World Championships...Did it take place?

[Spongebob!]

I just thought I'd throw in a little controversial thread to mark my 200th contribution to the site!!! :happy:

It seems the World Table Tennis Championships have passed by unnoticed...and I just wanted your opinion on this!

For a site totally dedicated to table tennis I find it astounding that there has been very little debate about the championships - yet this is the BIGGEST TT tournament in the world!!!

Jose had a few threads / updates about England's performance in their Group's (which was great) and Goddy (Harry) mentioned it was on Eurosport - with a few frustrations that it was cut short by adverts / Salsa dancing!!!

I managed to record most of the live / highlights of the tournament via Sky Plus and then watched the matches at my leisure (rudely interupted by an earthquake too...!).

There was some excellent table tennis played throughout with brilliant individual play (points and rallies), tactics, agility, speed, attitude and mental toughness. In my opinion this was complimented by Eurosports excellent coverage of the tournament - brilliant commentry from Syed with slow motion action replays on key points, i.e., to see the play again and a breakdown of how the point had been constructed / won!

So....my point is this...and I don't intend to offend anyone I just want to generate some good debate on this....:

We all constantly talk about promoting the sport, trying to make it more interesting, banning particular rubbers / glues, higher nets etc etc. This ranting and raving about these incremental changes (see explanation a little later in the thread) has to, or needs to, be balanced with a celebration with what we've got sometimes, for example, the excellent coverage by Eurosport.

Yes its frustrating...but there you go - sometimes you just have to grin and bear it. I really can't see it changing unless someone totally radical comes into the sport from both the admin side and within the sport itself, i.e., to make a whoesale difference (not incremental) and make the sport a household name for whatever reason.

My explanation re: incremental changes is this...they will probably have no a very little impact / effect. New technologies and adjustments to rubbers / glues / blades etc will just help to compensate for the changes the authorities are attempting to put into place. We've already started to see the first signs of this already with new glue based rubbers / water based glue etc.

For example, how much impact did the change in ball size have - or have new technologies already overcome any impact it was having.

Anyway....I told you it was controversial - I might be right - I might be wrong, either way...I look forward to some great replies and debate about this.

Finally....in addition to the above, I would be interested if members have been following the championships (I'm sure you will have) what they thought of them in relation to the following:

- Best Player
- Best Point / Rally
- Best overall performance (in terms of playing above themselves)
- Tactical awareness
- Conditions / Equipment
- Coverage / Commentry etc
- any other general points you may have

SpongeBob!!! :thumbsup:
ps: Dave - I still have the coverage on my Sky Plus - if there is a way to get this to you to put onto the site just let me know and I will endeavour to help you on this.

[Mr Wilko]

who actually won as i have not seen or heard a thing apart from Jose and Harry on this site (thanks to the both of you for keeping us informed)


http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif we see more of the world darts !!! lol

[Spongebob!]

who actually won as i have not seen or heard a thing apart from Jose and Harry on this site (thanks to the both of you for keeping us informed)


http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif we see more of the world darts !!! lol

China won even though they turned out a weakened side in the final.....they only played the World No's 1, 2 and 3 in a 3 man team!!!

The opponent's manager was quoted as saying....'lord....what chance have you got playing against a strong team like that - it was like playing Thompson Insurance...!' http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif :thumbsup: http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif

[Annie]

What kind of glue do they play with?

[Spongebob!]

What kind of glue do they play with?

At the moment I use Millenium for my rubbers and Stiga speed glue for my blade. But obviously this will all have to change shortly.

In fairness I'm just waiting to see what the general consensus is - i.e., the glue that everyone thinks is the best.

You know it makes sense doing it that way!

Sponge! :thumbsup:

[Mr Wilko]

The opponent's manager was quoted as saying....'lord....what chance have you got playing against a strong team like that - it was like playing Thompson Insurance...!' http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif :thumbsup: http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/pingbat.gif[/quote]



Sounds like a quote from Mr Fonte!!!!! lol


http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/woho.gifhttp://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/woho.gifhttp://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/woho.gif

[Annie]

At the moment I use Millenium for my rubbers and Stiga speed glue for my blade. But obviously this will all have to change shortly.

In fairness I'm just waiting to see what the general consensus is - i.e., the glue that everyone thinks is the best.

You know it makes sense doing it that way!

Sponge! :thumbsup:

Chicken!

http://www.tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/chicken.gif

[Spongebob!]

Chicken!

http://www.tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/images/chicken.gif

Aha....but what came first the chicken or the egg...!

I'm a random glue user anyway - not really bothered what type I use - I'm equally bad with any of them!!! :taz:

[Jose]

Me, I finally got frustrated with the whole lot of the press. Kept sending messages to the main newspapers and tv telling them they were missing the opportunity to report some good English results, but I saw nothing reported, except that great picture in the Times of Jorgen Persson! The Evening Gazette printed the reports because Alan was sending them from China! John Woodford is very much missed.

I think the next step is to lobby the ETTA to come up with a good Publicity campaign and for everyone interested in table tennis to sign a petition to be sent to the leading press organisations. This way we may get coverage at least from the 2009 Commonwealth in Glasgow and perhaps future worlds ... perhaps the press really don't know how much interest there is! Perhaps we should get them to run some of the old Daily Mirror tournaments and just see how many people enter.

The Junior British League in Wolverhampton was incredible. A great big hall filled with hundreds of kids playing on 36 tables for two whole days, plus all the umpires, coaches, organisers, parents. What a sight for the press and tv coverage showing
how table tennis can provide an activity for youngsters improve their skills in a way that develps both fitness of the body and strength and effectiveness of the mind ... and keeps them busy and off the streets. But nothing, no cameras, even the role of publicity officer for these events as introduced by Mike Lewis, has been dropped.

Yes, I think the governing body of the sport has to be held responsible and the ETTA needs to do better.

[Spongebob!]

Me, I finally got frustrated with the whole lot of the press. Kept sending messages to the main newspapers and tv telling them they were missing the opportunity to report some good English results, but I saw nothing reported.

I think the next step is to lobby the ETTA to come up with a good Publicity campaign and for everyone interested in table tennis to sign a petition to be sent to the leading press organisations. This way we may get coverage at least from the 2009 Commonwealth in Glasgow and perhaps future worlds ... perhaps the press really don't know how much interest there is! Perhaps we should get them to run some of the old Daily Mirror tournaments and just see how many people enter.

The Junior British League in Wolverhampton was incredible. A great big hall filled with hundreds of kids playing on 36 tables for two whole days, plus all the umpires, coaches, organisers, parents. What a sight for the press and tv coverage showing
how table tennis can provide an activity for youngsters improve their skills in a way that develps both fitness of the body and strength and effectiveness of the mind ... and keeps them busy and off the streets. But nothing, no cameras, even the role of publicity officer for these events as introduced by Mike Lewis, has been dropped.

Yes, I think the governing body of the sport has to be held responsible and the ETTA needs to do better.

Hi Jose - I'm glad we agree on this - just think of how much time and effort these players are putting into the sport - it must be so frustrating for them.

In terms of the Governing Body and the ETTA I just think they need to take a much more radical look at the sport, how to generate more interest, how to get people involved, how to promote it better, it needs a really high profile name - someone people will associate with.

You just have to look at darts to realise what can be achieved...I don't particluar like sport but the coverage of their different championships and tournaments are absolutely brilliant - and you sort of get hooked!

The atmosphere is brilliant - loads of fun and enjoyment - and the matches thrilling and exciting.

I just wish we could do something similar - you can't buy that type of publicity!!!

I'm sure you of all people will be fully aware of what's going on behind the scenes to promote the sport - and these people are totally dedicated to the wellbeing of the sport (its not for want of trying is it!!!).

But I come back to my original thread - it needs a radical re-think - a long term strategy not incremental changes - they will NOT resolve the underlying cause!

It won't be easy - it won't be quick - but we have to think of way to break the cycle of incremental changes / tweaking not giant steps and radical thinking!

Spongey! :thumbsup:

[HarryBelafonte]

hi sponge,in reply to your great post ,just a few points,

a lot of players I speak to dont like to watch the sport,
comments like its not made for tv, or I would rather have a knock.

Another thing when I tell people I go to germany or somewhere in europe to WATCH table tennis people look at you as if your some sort of anorak,:bag:(which i must admit I am)(again this image perception) but as you know playing in the vets ,the social side is brilliant, just the same at big world championships as we all have something in common.

I also think the coverage of sports in england where we have lots of high ranked players is normally exceptional,remember snooker in the 80s and 90s and now darts,the majority of top players are,were legends of the sport,
Davis hendry,taylor bristw jockey etc. the coverage was massive.

I think if we had a team in the top 5 in the world the coverage would be better. Since Des retired I dont think we have had anywhere near the same coverage..as the 70s and 80s.(on the mainstream channels.) and we probably had a better teams cooke prean syed and chen silver in euro champs.:thumbsup:

In Asia and particular China I would imagine their coverage is massive,as you said 1 2 3 in the world,they also have the 4 and 5 they rule the world, they are equal to our top football stars so they get massive coverage.
I assume Sweden dont get the coverage they used to when they ruled the world with jo etc.

but saying that t t is a massive sport and we should at least have worlds and euro s even national coverage.

Not trying to make any particular point here,just some of my thoughts.:wave::yes:

[Spongebob!]

hi sponge,in reply to your great post ,just a few points,

a lot of players I speak to dont like to watch the sport,
comments like its not made for tv, or I would rather have a knock.

Another thing when I tell people I go to germany or somewhere in europe to WATCH table tennis people look at you as if your some sort of anorak,:bag:(which i must admit I am)(again this image perception) but as you know playing in the vets ,the social side is brilliant, just the same at big world championships as we all have something in common.

I also think the coverage of sports in england where we have lots of high ranked players is normally exceptional,remember snooker in the 80s and 90s and now darts,the majority of top players are,were legends of the sport,
Davis hendry,taylor bristw jockey etc. the coverage was massive.

I think if we had a team in the top 5 in the world the coverage would be better. Since Des retired I dont think we have had anywhere near the same coverage..as the 70s and 80s.(on the mainstream channels.) and we probably had a better teams cooke prean syed and chen silver in euro champs.:thumbsup:

In Asia and particular China I would imagine their coverage is massive,as you said 1 2 3 in the world,they also have the 4 and 5 they rule the world, they are equal to our top football stars so they get massive coverage.
I assume Sweden dont get the coverage they used to when they ruled the world with jo etc.

but saying that t t is a massive sport and we should at least have worlds and euro s even national coverage.

Not trying to make any particular point here,just some of my thoughts.:wave::yes:

Couldn't agree more Harold....absolutely spot on!! :thumbsup:

[Blocking Ace]

I was loaned a video of the sky matches [have not got satellite - only just upgraded to colour tv and Channel 4].

I persevere with a point, by saying that i found the most enjoyable matches to watch were the likes of Germany v Austria [Schlager v Rosskopf, 35-year-old v 38-Year-old].

I thought the only Asian players who played attractively were the shakehanded Wang Liquin and Japan's Yo Kan [who is penhold, but plays more like an orthodox shakehand]. I'm not claiming that Ma Lin and Wang Hao [or Hong Kong] are poor - but simply have unattractive playing styles in the extreme. Robotic, Bland. Blugghh.
Personal preference, but if China were playing Hong Kong at a venue down the street, i would not bother going.
Also, i noticed that the Schlager/Rosskopf encounter moved along quite swiftly. Theatrical gesturing and grimacing kept to a minimum. Not repeated agonised looks at the bench every time they lost point [re. Li Ching]. Schlager has went up in my estimation - he appeared to go about his business in a professional, determined manner, without undue fuss and delay [as did Rosskopf].
:clapping:

[MK Chris]

To be honest, I don't think table tennis is a particularly good sport to watch on telly, it's too fast and (to the layman anyway) it can be difficult to see what's on the ball. I still enjoy watching it when it's on, but if I were the man off the street who happened to stumble across it? I'm not sure it'd catch my interest. Watching it there is another thing, but then getting people to go is another subject entirely.

[MickM]

To be honest, I don't think table tennis is a particularly good sport to watch on telly, it's too fast and (to the layman anyway) it can be difficult to see what's on the ball. I still enjoy watching it when it's on, but if I were the man off the street who happened to stumble across it? I'm not sure it'd catch my interest. Watching it there is another thing, but then getting people to go is another subject entirely.

Me, I finally got frustrated with the whole lot of the press. Kept sending messages to the main newspapers and tv telling them they were missing the opportunity to report some good English results, but I saw nothing reported, except that great picture in the Times of Jorgen Persson! The Evening Gazette printed the reports because Alan was sending them from China! John Woodford is very much missed.

I think the next step is to lobby the ETTA to come up with a good Publicity campaign and for everyone interested in table tennis to sign a petition to be sent to the leading press organisations. This way we may get coverage at least from the 2009 Commonwealth in Glasgow and perhaps future worlds ... perhaps the press really don't know how much interest there is! Perhaps we should get them to run some of the old Daily Mirror tournaments and just see how many people enter.

The Junior British League in Wolverhampton was incredible. A great big hall filled with hundreds of kids playing on 36 tables for two whole days, plus all the umpires, coaches, organisers, parents. What a sight for the press and tv coverage showing
how table tennis can provide an activity for youngsters improve their skills in a way that develps both fitness of the body and strength and effectiveness of the mind ... and keeps them busy and off the streets. But nothing, no cameras, even the role of publicity officer for these events as introduced by Mike Lewis, has been dropped.

Yes, I think the governing body of the sport has to be held responsible and the ETTA needs to do better.

Having read the posts in this thread i agree with Chris in certain ways as it is quite difficult to watch as a layman but the people who do watch and have not seen it before are amazed at the speed and skill involved so i think we need to think about getting it on the TV before worrying about how good it is.

Jose has made great points with the main one being the ETTA have not in my opinion made great strides in the promotional front, especially in relation to media coverage. We as players should lobby the ETTA to make sure the voice is heard and the sport is is given more publicity which will make it available to all players of any age because as it stands we have an ETTA which seems content with recieving money and quite comfortable with letting things roll as they are which is not acceptable.

[Firepower]

This item makes good reading by ...............By Brian Halliday

The late John Woodford provided a table tennis news service to readers of The Daily Telegraph over many years. He kept the flag flying when the rest of the National Press ignored us. With John’s sad demise the Telegraph decided that our sport deserved absolutely no coverage whatsoever. Well almost.

Let us examine the position in a little more detail. I have tried to take a reasonable stance at meetings of our National Council in requesting time and again for a more dynamic approach to the publicity aspects relating to table tennis. Nobody would argue that we are well served at local level with volunteers churning out reams of copy on a weekly basis. The problem continues to lie with how we are treated nationally. In order to present you with some proof as to the present position I have kept a record of the Telegraph coverage from 1st January 2008 up to the present time of writing 28th February,

January was a complete blank (unless of course I bought the wrong regional edition), February almost followed suit. I waited with huge expectation for reports and results from the World Team Championships in China. To be fair they did provide some of the men’s and women’s results but no English results. I double-checked on the ETTA website and the ITTF website and there was the confirmation that England had sent teams and in fact were doing rather well. So well in fact that they were both unbeaten within their categories. If ever there was a time within the last four years when a little publicity was deserved it was surely now. But what did we get? You couldn’t make it up ------

Daily Telegraph - Monday 25th February " TABLE TENNIS - Kosovo’s table tennis players are set to make history in China this week by playing under the new flag in the first international sports competition since the country declared independence from Serbia earlier this month. 59 days of sports coverage and that’s all we got.

This earth shattering news for English fans was obviously deemed more important than our men’s and women’s teams both having recorded excellent victories over Australia in the 1st round of matches. Both Drinkhall and Sibley remain unbeaten and this should be a cause for celebration. I know Malcolm Macfarlane, from his desk in China, lets the Hastings office have the results and these are duly promulgated on the website. What sticks in my gullet is that the man in the street would not have a clue that we are making a slight impact on the world stage.
Yesterday I got in touch with Jim Beckley, the Vice Chairman with responsibility for Public Relations, to try to find out where we might be going wrong. Jim was very helpful explaining that the demands for space in the National Press are very heavy and it is not easy to turn the tide in our favour. I pointed out that a great opportunity of a story about England doing the double over Australia had been missed. Jim said that he would pursue the matter. I believe that Hastings are to blame for the fact that nobody had the wit to pick up the story, ring the sports room direct at the Telegraph, lay the law down in the nicest possible way, and try to get coverage so the man in the street at least knows we exist.

Today I read on the ITTF website that Kelly Sibley beat Ni Xia Lian in a 3-2 triumph against Luxembourg. Now I know that Xia Lian is a veteran and a little past her best, however she is still a world class player who not so long ago was European Champion. This is a victory to be saluted and undoubtedly the most significant by an English woman for many years. I wait with baited breath as to how this will be reported.

Jim Beckley and I have worked together on many occasions in the past. Jim listened to me, and if you think something within the publicity world is not quite right, he will listen to you. Don’t be afraid to ring him on 0161 439 6001 or email him at jim.beckley@ntworld.com (jim.beckley@ntworld.com)


PS. February 29th. Nothing in the Telegraph concerning Kelly Sibley’s excellent win over Ni Xia Lian. Ah but wait a moment what is this I see? A paragraph reporting that Scotland have scaled the dizzy heights at the Worlds and had achieved a top 50 position. Maybe we have someone at Hastings with Scottish leanings. I think we should be told.

The item is from FTT which has some points on it about the ETTA and it's role in relation to how it is performing and are the UK getting a good deal at all levels, my opinion would be no but on a postive note i hope they are improving. Negative words are not always the way to go but needed if change is to be had.

[Spongebob!]

This item makes good reading by ...............By Brian Halliday



The item is from FTT which has some points on it about the ETTA and it's role in relation to how it is performing and are the UK getting a good deal at all levels, my opinion would be no but on a postive note i hope they are improving. Negative words are not always the way to go but needed if change is to be had.

Great post Firepower...I totally agree with everything in the mail / Brian's notes. It is just beyond me to think what we can do other than an absolute radical change on every aspect of the sport - other sports have done this and come out the other end (see my previous posts earlier).

Thanks Spongey!:thumbsup: