The Slovenian towns of Celje and Lasko will be home to the 2018 World Para Table Tennis Championships from 15-21 October 2018. The World Para Table Tennis Championships, which started in 1990 in Assen, Netherlands, was held once every four years featuring both team and individual events, with its last edition in Beijing, China in […]
via Slovenia To Host 2018 World Para Table Tennis Championships — newfanzoneblog
Winning her fourth consecutive Paralympic Singles Gold earlier this week at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, para table tennis legend Natalia PARTYKA adds a team gold to her collection after leading Poland to a 2-1 victory against defending Champions China in the Women’s Team Class 6-10 event. After losing the opening doubles match with her […]
via Para Table Tennis Legend Partyka Leads Poland to Team Gold in Rio — newfanzoneblog
Poland’s Natalia PARTYKA has claimed her fourth consecutive Paralympic Singles Gold medal today, 13 September 2016, at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. PARTYKA is no stranger to breaking records at the Paralympics: Youngest ever Paralympian in table tennis history when she competed in her first Paralympic Games in Sydney 2000 at the young age of […]
via Poland’s Partyka Claims Fourth Consecutive Paralympic Singles Gold in Rio — newfanzoneblog
The draw of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Table Tennis Singles event has concluded today with Rio 2016 Olympian and Paralympians Melissa TAPPER (AUS) and Natalia PARTYKA (POL) heading off for an early clash in the group stage of the Class 10 Women’s Singles event. The Men’s and Women’s Singles events will follow a round […]
via Tapper and Partyka Sets Off for Early Clash in Rio — newfanzoneblog
History will be made at Rio 2016 Olympic Games, as two Paralympians will be playing in the Olympic Table Tennis event for the first time ever. Natalia PARTYKA (POL) and Melissa TAPPER (AUS) have both been confirmed for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which shows the world that anything is possible. PARTYKA, who […]
via Two Table Tennis Paralympians to Compete in the Olympic Games — newfanzoneblog
14 year olds Mima ITO and Miu HIRANO from Japan have made history by becoming the youngest ever ITTF World Tour Grand Finals champions today in Bangkok, Thailand.
The duo, whose peers would have been at school instead of a $1,000,000 table tennis event, became the World Tour Grand Final women’s doubles champions in a gripping match.
ITO & HIRANO defeated the Polish pair in the gold medal match, which included triple Paralympics champion Natalia PARTYKA, an amazing achievement in itself for the class 10 superstar.
After beating PARTYKA and her partner Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA 11-7, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5, ITO stated: “We beat them in the ITTF World Tour German Open final earlier this year, so we knew we could beat them, but of course this was a new match and it was a very special match. We knew it would be hard to win today.”
A smiling HIRANO added: “We have both practiced such a great deal. So I think we have a very good level of technical skills which helpeda lot.”
When the girls were told that in addition to winning the women’s doubles crown, they would also receive a $40,000 cheque, they could not hide their excitement, jumping up and down hugging each other in disbelief.
“We are going to buy lots and lots of presents for our family and friends, we are so excited about this money,” stated the ecstatic pair.
It wasn’t all sweet for Japan though, as CHO Eonrae and SEO Hyundeok of Korea ruined their dream of completing a doubles clean sweep by defeating Kenta MATSUDAIRA and Koki NIWA to clinch the title.
“During the time-out, our coach told us that we must really focus on our services and play fast from the backhand”, shared CHO. “We were both a little tense during the last 2 points, but the top spin from the backhand by Hyundeok made all the difference.”
The singles event is up to the semi finals stage, with the winners being determined tomorrow in front of the capacity crowd at the Sports Authority of Thailand Indoor Stadium.
The semi finalists shows the depth of international table tennis, with seven different countries making up the four men’s and four women’s semi final positions. The men’s semi finals sees a battle of Asia v Europe and the women’s features one of the most improved player of 2014 Georgina Pota (HUN) play the biggest match of her life!
Table Tennis has been confirmed as one of the first 16 sports that will make up the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board made the decision that Table Tennis will again be in the Paralympic Games during their meeting in Berlin, Germany on 7 October 2014.
On the decision, ITTF CEO Judit FARAGO stated: “The ITTF is extremely happy and proud to be among the 16 sports selected in the first round to be on the programme of the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. It proves the firm position of Table Tennis since the first Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome.
“The decision of the IPC Governing Board means that we successfully met the criteria of worldwide participation, athlete classification, anti-doping programme and others. Our integrated para Table Tennis competition programme involves over 3,500 classified players and yearly 20 international tournaments which surely will further increase in the period leading up to the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.”
Table Tennis was included in the first Paralympic Games in Rome 1960, and has been included in every edition since, which means that Tokyo 2020 will be the 16th time Table Tennis will be in the Paralympic Games.
Table Tennis was one of the most popular sports at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, with 99% day tickets sold for the event and immense media interest.
Table Tennis also produced one of the moments of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, with this amazing shot by David Wetherill: http://youtu.be/riR_SyhvB6s being seen by over 6 million people on YouTube alone.
The decision to include Table Tennis in the 2020 Paralympic Games comes right after the extremely successful ITTF Para World Table Tennis Championships, which was held last month in Beijing, China.
The event had 3 hours live broadcast on CCTV, which was seen by over 18 million people across China. The event also attracted 1.2 million impressions on Facebook, 153,000 on Twitter and TV news reports on several national TV stations, including BBC in the UK.
Joining Table Tennis in the 16 confirmed sports for the 2020 Paralympic Games are: athletics, archery, badminton, boccia, equestrian, goalball, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, triathlon, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.
The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be held from 25 August – 6 September 2020.
Singles finals day of the 2014 ITTF Para Table Tennis World Championships was a case of clean sweeps and close shaves, as more than half of the 21 finals matches ended in 3-0 score lines, with five more reaching their conclusion only with a tense fifth game.
Current women’s world no.1 and reigning Paralympic gold medalist Natalia PARTYKA was one player who left it till late for victory in the National Para Training Centre. The Polish player defeated China’s YANG Qian 3-2 in the Class 10 Women’s Singles final after trailing for most of the match, including being down 9-10 in the deciding fifth.
“I knew from the beginning that it was going to a very tough match” PARTYKA said. “I played against Qian in London, and it was also 3-2. I saw her and I knew she had good performances here. I knew that I had to stay focused and try to play relaxed.”
PARTYKA is one of the few players to compete in both the Paralympic’s and Olympic Games, a feat she says she wants to repeat at Rio 2016.
“I’d like to win a Paralympic singles gold again but it’s not going to be easy, as you can see from this match” the 25-year-old said. “But I hope I’ll be able to play well, and win the gold like I did in Athens, Beijing and London.” Full interview can be watched here: http://youtu.be/CXn9YmHHY3Q.
Also aiming to build on his performance in London is Great Britain’s William BAYLEY, who defeated Ukraine’s NIKOLENKO Maksym 3-2 in a close Class 7 Men’s Singles final.
BAYLEY, a London silver medalist, says his performance against NIKOLENKO was one of the best matches he’s ever played, and like PARTYKA, is next aiming for a Rio gold.
“I think it’s the best match of my career because you know, I’ve lost two major finals in a row, so it was a special match for me.” BAYLEY said. “I was 1-0, 7-1 down so you know, it was a difficult match. I just told myself to keep battling, keep fighting, because I knew if I made it close I’d have a chance.”
“There wasn’t a lot that separated us, but you know I just came through” BAYLEY added. “I gave everything. I put my heart and my soul into the match, and luckily for me it worked in the end.”Full interview can be watched here: http://youtu.be/rBJJF7JgdTU.
In the Class 9 Men’s Singles final, China’s MA Lin, defeated Austria’s Stanislaw FRACZYK 3-0 coming back from being 6-10 down in the second set to eventually win 13-11. This was a performance that also meant a lot to the Chinese player, which was the eighth of the day for a dominant China. MA revealed that he had been struggling with a knee injury, and could only train intensely for a month before the Para World Championships.
“I’m really satisfied with my performance as I’ve been nursing my injury, and haven’t been able to train as much as I want to these two years” said MA, who is the reining ITTF Male Para Star, which he won at the inaugural ITTF Star Awards in Dubai earlier this year. Full interview can be watched here: http://youtu.be/dKnbSRLmWBA.
Please find a full list of newly crowned Para World Champions below:
Women’s Singles Class 1-2: LIU Jing – China
Women’s Singles Class3: LI Qian – China
Women’s Singles Class 4: ZHANG Miao – China
Women’s Singles Class 5: ZHANG Bian – China
Women’s Singles Class 6: Sandra PAOVIC – Croatia
Women’s Singles Class 7: Kelly VAN ZON – Nederlands
Women’s Singles Class 8: MAO Jingdian – China
Women’s Singles Class 9: LEI Li Na – China
Women’s Singles Class 10: Natalia PARTYKA – Poland
Women’s Singles Class 11: Anzhelika KOSACHEVA – Russia
Men’s Singles Class 1: Chang-ho LEE – Korea
Men’s Singles Class 2: Fabien LAMIRAULT – France
Men’s Singles Class 3: FENG Panfeng – China
Men’s Singles Class 4: Nesim TURAN – Turkey
Men’s Singles Class 5: Valentin BAUS – Germany
Men’s Singles Class 6: Alvaro VALERA – Spain
Men’s Singles Class 7: William BAYLEY – Great Britain
Men’s Singles Class 8: Viktor DIDUKH – Ukraine
Men’s Singles Class 9: MA Lin – China
Men’s Singles Class 10: Patryk CHOJNOWSKI – Poland
Men’s Singles Class 11: Pascal PEREIRA LEAK – France
With the singles now concluded, the world’s best para table tennis players start the team competition, which starts tomorrow.
The 2014 ITTF Para World Championships will be held in Beijing, China from 6-15 September 2014, and will be the largest ITTF Para World Championships ever staged.
Held once every four years, the ITTF Para Table Tennis World Championships is the most prestigious events in Para Table Tennis.
The upcoming 2014 edition has drawn a total of 630 participants from 48 countries, including umpires, officials, and 314 para athletes who will be battling it out for the gold medals in both Singles and Team events.
The most recognizable Para Table Tennis player on earth Natalia PARTYKA (POL) will be lining up in Beijing to make more history in her class 10 category. PARTYKA, who also recently played in the able bodied World Championships earlier in the year, has a CV that rivals any athlete from any sport.
The 25-year-old first competed in the Paralympics in 2000 as a 11-year-old and has since gone on to win three Paralymic crowns, two World titles, as well as being the first ever Para Table Tennis player to play at the Olympic Games at Beijing 2008 and London 2012
Two time Paralympic and World Champion MA Lin (CHN) will be defending his title on home soil. The 34-year-old Class 9 player stated: “This is my third World Championships, I see it very importantly. In 2006 and 2010, I won the title in class 9, so naturally I would like to win it for the 3rd time. I have high expectation to myself, after all, the world championship is the game with the most elite players. I am always at ease. The best mental status is very important to an athlete, so I will try to adjust it to the best, hopefully my performance won’t let anyone down, including myself.”
Other star names to look out for in Beijing are: 2013 ITTF Para Table Tennis Star winner Anna-Carin AHLQUIST from Sweden, who will be competing in class 3, and the class 7 super star from Great Britain Will BAYLEY.
Japanese 13 year olds Mima ITO and Miu HIRANO have created table tennis history by winning the women’s doubles event at the GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Super Series German Open, which concluded today in Magdeburg, Germany
The victory means that the dynamic duo are the youngest ever pair to win an ITTF World Tour gold medal. Additionally, ITO, at 13 years and 160 days, becomes the youngest ever winner of any ITTF World Tour medal, surpassing the achievement of China’s GUO Yue who was 13 years and 224 days old when she won the Austrian Open women’s doubles title in 2002.
To achieve this historic feat, ITO and HIRANO defeated the one and only triple Paralympic champion Natalia PARTYKA who now made a name for herself as an abled bodied athlete and doubles partner Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA 11-9, 11-7, 11-7.
An ecstatic ITO stated: “We have been playing together since we were four. We are very happy winning this big title and being the youngest ever players to do so. We are not satisfied, we want to keep on winning titles.”
Mima ITO and Miu HIRANO being told that they won prize mone, in addition as well as the historic gold medal. Photo: ITTF,
When asked about a possible Tokyo 2020 appearance, ITO responsed: “Yes, that is our dream, but Rio 2016 is first, so we plan to be there.” This would be remarkable, as they are both still too young to even compete at the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games.
London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) brought his home crowd to their feet after a dramatic 11-9, 5-11, 9-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-2, 11-9 win over Jun MIZUTANI (JPN), who has been playing since he was 12.
After one of the best performances of his career, the 25 year old stated: “This has been a great tournament for me. I have had a lot of tight victories which was very satisfying. The end of the game was amazing. Probably the best finish to a game that I have ever had.”
“I am very happy as this is my first World Tour Super Series gold and I am much more confident now heading into the World Championships next month in Tokyo.”
OVTCHAROV’s victory inspired his team mate SHAN Xiaona (GER) to a dominant victory over the number one seed and heavy favourite SEO Hyowon (KOR) 18-16, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 to secure her first World Tour crown.
The 3,000 people that flocked to the GETEC arena in Madgeburg on Saturday will never forget the experience. They witnessed German world number 100 Steffen MENGEL (GER) cause one of the biggest upsets in table tennis history, by beating five time Olympic medallist WANG Hao (CHN) in seven of the most gripping games you will ever see.
WANG Hao made up for this surprise loss in the singles, by pairing with LYU Xiang (CHN) to claim the men’s doubles gold, by defeating TAN Ruiwu (CRO) & WANG Zengyi (POL) 13-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-2.
The next stop on the GAC Group 2014 World Tour is the Spanish Open, which begins on Wednesday 2 April 2014 in Almeria, Spain.
After the Spanish Open, the table tennis world’s attention turns to the premier table tennis event, the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Tokyo, Japan on 28 April 2014.
International Table Tennis Federation’s (ITTF) Dream Building Ambassador and Paralympic Champion Natalia PARTYKA (POL) has been shortlisted for the 2014 International Women’s Day Recognition Award run by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Five women were nominated for this prestigious award, and the winner will be announced at a special ceremony at the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Winter Games on 8 March.
On hearing the news the Paralympian, who also participated in the Olympic Games in 2008 and 2012 stated: “I am really surprised and honored that I am nominated to the special award among such great women, which contributed so much to develop the Paralympics movement in their countries and also all over the world.”
“I am sure that the Paralympics movement is the best way to change the life of disabled people, to allow them to believe they are strong, strong enough to win.”
At just 24 years of age, PARTYKA is already a legend in Para Table Tennis. She is the youngest ever Paralympian, playing at Sydney 2000 at just 11 years of age, made history in 2008 by becoming only the 2nd Paralympian to compete in the Olympic games, played at four Paralympics and two Olympics, and has three Paralympic gold medals to her name.
In addition to PARTYKA’s Olympic and Paralympic achievements, she was also nominated for the first ever Female Table Tennis Star award at the ITTF Star Awards earlier this year.
To create the shortlist, stakeholders from within the Paralympic Movement were invited to nominate someone who they felt embodies the spirit of the Paralympics and who inspires women within it. The record number of nominations was then shortlisted by members of the IPC’s Women in Sport Committee, Chairperson Tine Rindum Teilmann, three-time Paralympic champion hand cyclist and former Winter Games medallist in alpine skiing Muffy Davis and Sima Limoochi. The winner will now be voted by the full committee.
The other four nominees are:
Rima Batalova (RUS) – Won a total of 13 Paralympic and 18 world titles spanning three decades before becoming heavily involved with developing para-sport in Russia at a local and national level. She is Vice President of the Russian Paralympic Committee and a member of the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee.
Jannie Hammershoej (DEN) – A former goalballer, Hammershoej competed at the 1996 Atlanta Games and became involved with the Danish Paralympic Committee before becoming the President of the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) in 2013.
Nadia Harusimana (BDI) – The wheelchair racing coach was responsible for starting the very first sports club for women and girls with impairments in Burundi. As a result the country now has national championships in women’s sitting volleyball. Progressing from volunteer to Deputy Secretary General of the National Paralympic Committee, Harusimana has made a valuable contribution to para-sport in Burundi.
Fatemeh Rakhshani (IRI) – The current Chairperson of the Asian Paralympic Committee’s Women in Sport Committee and has a substantial influence on women in para-sport in Iran. Through her athleticism as a para-swimmer, Rakhshani also works to involve communities in physical activity.
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