Australia Scores Clean Sweep Of Titles At 2015 ITTF-Oceania Cup & Para Table Tennis Championships

The first ever international table tennis event to integrate able-bodied and para table tennis, the K-Sports 2015 ITTF-Oceania Cup & Para Table Tennis Championships concluded on Sunday, 12 April 2015, with Australia stamping its authority to achieve a clean sweep of titles on home soil.

The K-Sports 2015 ITTF-Oceania Cup is the continental qualifications for the prestigious 2015 ITTF Men’s & Women’s World Cups that will be held later this year, with the winners of the men’s & women’s singles title holder qualifying directly to the respective world cups.

Whereas the ITTF-Oceania Para Table Tennis Championships serves as the qualification event for the region to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, with the winners gaining direct entry to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Top seeds for the ITTF-Oceania Cup titles, William HENZELL (AUS) and LAY Jian Fang (AUS) were both able to retain their titles with an impressive 4-0 win over their opponents in the final hurdle to seal their victories.

William Henzell remains undefeated at ITTF-Oceania Cup to secure 5th consecutive victory!

HENZELL overcame compatriot David POWELL 11-5, 12-10, 11-7, 12-10 to score his 5th consecutive win at the ITTF-Oceania Cup, making him the sole men’s singles title holder ever since the event inaugurated in Adelaide in 2011.

After his historic victory, the 33-year old shared that “I’m proud to have earned the right to represent Oceania at the World Cup later this year, which will be a very important event in the lead up to qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympics. I’ve been back in training for the past 3 months and I’m pleased about my form at the Oceania Cup.”

The three time Olympian added, “It was an important confidence boost for my aspirations to qualify for Rio. The Bendigo Table Tennis Association along with the ITTF did a fantastic job to run the most professional event we’ve seen in Australia since the 2000 Olympics.”

In the Women’s gold medal match, LAY repeated her success a year ago at the very same venue, to defeat New Zealand’s LI Chunli 11-5, 12-10, 11-6, 12-10 to defend her title and secure her second ITTF-Oceania Cup title.

Success in the ITTF-Oceania Cup, Australia also swept all 4 titles on offer at the ITTF-Oceania Para Table Tennis Championships: Women’s Singles Class 3-5, Women’s Singles Class 6-10, Men’s Singles Class 3-5, and Men’s Singles Class 6-10.

While in the case of Pacific Cup, New Caledonia’s Laurent SENS and Ornella BOUTEILLE are the newly crowned champions after defeating Vanuatu’s Yoshua SHING and Melveen RICHMOND in the Men’s & Women’s Single respectively.

Australian Contingent At The 2015 ITTF-Oceania Cup Photo Credit Andrew Perryman – BENDIGO WEEKLY

Qualifications for the 2015 ITTF Men’s & Women’s World Cups:

NN Table Tennis Club 2015 ITTF-Europe Top 16 Cup: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER), Marcos FREITAS (POR), Panagiotis GIONIS (GRE), LIU Jia (AUT), Petrissa SOLJA (GER), Irene IVANCAN (GER)

GAC Group 2015 Asian Cup: XU Xin (CHN), FAN Zhendong (CHN), Jun MIZUTANI (JPN), FENG Tianwei (SIN), LIU Shiwen (CHN), ZHU Yuling (CHN)

K-Sports 2015 ITTF-Oceania Cup: William HENZELL (AUS), LAY Jian Fang (AUS)

Devastated By Cyclone Pam But Support Means Yoshua Shing Is Bendigo Bound

Cyclone Pam, considered to be one of the worst natural disasters in the history of Vanuatu, hit the South Pacific island early on the morning of Saturday 14th March, causing an estimated 16 deaths and total devastation.

However, Yoshua SHING, the island’s leading table tennis player, will be attending the forthcoming K-Sports 2015 ITTF Oceania Cup & Para Table Tennis Championships to be held in Bendigo, Australia on 10-12 April 2015.

“Many athletes from throughout the Oceania region have already confirmed their assistance towards Vanuatu, and many will be looking to make equipment donations to assist the National Team to continue their training”, explained Michael BROWN ITTF and Africa-Oceania Development Coordinator.

“As agreed earlier, the ITTF-Oceania Development Programme will provide a Training Camp to assist Vanuatu in their preparations for the Pacific Games.”

The devastation suffered in Vanuatu puts sport into sharp perspective, as explained by SHING:”As we all know, everybody wants to win but there can only be one winner; Cyclone Pam has taught me that life is a gift from God and I’m so blessed to be alive and well. So whatever happens in matches, I’ll always smile, win or lose, I’ll smile because life is a gift; however, I won’t go down without a fight, I will play till I reach my limit and then, I’ll smile.”

It has been a life lesson for Yoshua SHING whose preparation for the K-Sports 2015 ITTF-Oceania Cup & Para Table Tennis Championships, which will be the first ever combined able bodied and para event, has been greatly affected.

Not even Cyclone Pam is keeping Shing away from the -Sports 2015 ITTF Oceania Cup

“Cyclone Pam has really damaged our training centre but that won’t stop me from training; recently after the disaster, we’ve managed to clean up some space and started training again but without electricity.

“Most of my equipment was soaked in water during the disaster, my racket and shoes but thank God for the sun, I’ve sun dried most except for the table on which we play” continued SHING, who represented Vanuatu at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

They say good players adapt, certainly SHING has been required to adapt. “Everything is a lot better now, in training I’ve been catching up with some multi-ball practice and footwork training. My training programme is still the same, training two hours every day with my coach and other players” reflected SHING

The devastation for families in Vanuatu is heartbreaking; everyone has been affected. “In the community where I live, most homes have been destroyed, even some concrete buildings; all the fruit trees and all the gardens are wiped clean, nothing left except for a few root crops. Most of the people don’t have good paid jobs, so they depend mostly on their gardens to sustain them and their families; now there are no gardens or vegetables” concluded SHING.

Difficult times for Vanuatu but for Yoshua SHING a ray of light; whatever the outcome the K-Sports 2015 ITTF Oceania Cup provides an opportunity, a source of motivation.

The 2015 ITTF-Oceania Cup and Para Table Tennis Championships will be held from 10-12 April 2015 at the Bendigo Stadium, and will see prize money totalling over $25,000AU, increasing from $20,000AU at the 2014 edition.