Nominees for 2015 Male & Female Table Stars Announced

The International Table Tennis Federation is excited to announce the nominees for the 2015 Male & Female Table Tennis Stars to be crowned at the 2015 ITTF Star Awards in Lisbon, Portugal on 9 December 2015.

The 2015 ITTF Star Awards, which will be in its third edition, will be held at the Lisbon’s emblematic city landmark – Patio da Gale, to celebrate the world’s best table tennis players’ achievements in 2015

The nominees in the running for the 2015 Male & Female Table Tennis Star Awards are:

Ma Long edges closer to his Grand Slam dream after 2015 Men’s World Cup victory!

Male Table Tennis Star presented by Seamaster, as nominated by the ITTF Athletes’ Commission:

FAN Zhendong (CHN) – 2015 Asian Champion
MA Long (CHN) – 2015 World Champion & 2015 Men’s World Cup Champion
Jun MIZUTANI (JPN) – GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Champion
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) – 2015 European Games Champion, 2015 ITTF-European Cup Champion & 2015 ITTF-European Championships Champion
Nomination video: https://youtu.be/khkMkpxmbpU

Ding Ning (CHN) QOROS 2015 World Table Tennis Championships Winner photo credit ITTF Media

Female Table Tennis Star presented by Nittaku, as nominated by the ITTF Athletes’ Commission:

DING Ning (CHN) – 2015 World Champion
Kasumi ISHIKAWA (JPN) – GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Champion
LIU Shiwen (CHN) – 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup Champion
Petrissa SOLJA (GER) – 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup bronze medalist
Nomination video: https://youtu.be/jzI2KZufOEg

Upon the nomination, world number one Ma Long shared, “It’s an honor for me to be nominated this year, and I’m glad that my efforts are being seen and recognized by the ITTF. 2015 has been a fruitful year, and I hope to keep up with my good performance this year in the future!”

Fans can now vote for their star player of 2015 athttp://bit.ly/15StarAwardsVoting. Voting will end on 25 November 2015.

Fans’ voting results will be combined with the judging outcome by an expert panel which will include their peers and the media to determine the Table Tennis Stars of 2015!

In addition to the Male and Female Table Tennis Stars, 6 other awards will be handed in Lisbon:

Male Para Table Tennis Star presented by Tinsue
Female Para Table Tennis Star presented by Stag International
Table Tennis Star Coach presented by Butterfly
Table Tennis Star Point presented by DHS
Table Tennis Breakthrough Star presented by TMS International
Table Tennis Fair Play Star
The nominees for these awards will be announced in the coming weeks.

Liu Shiwen Equals History at 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup

LIU Shiwen has became the equal most successful player in ITTF Women’s World Cup history by winning her fourth title in as many attempts at the 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup, which concluded today 1 November in Sendai, Japan.

The 24 year old added the 2015 title to those that she claimed in 2009, 2012 and 2013, to be equal with the legendary ZHANG Yining with four ITTF World Cup crowns.

The world number two reached this historic feat by defeating the great Japanese hope Kasumi ISHIKAWA 14-12,11-2,11-9,11-2 in the final to silence the capacity crowd at the Xebio Arena.

After lifting the famous cup, Liu stated: “At the vital times, I really had to make sure that I was positive; certainly it is a greater honour to be named alongside ZHANG Yining winning four ITTF Women’s World Cup titles. This victory will hopefully boost my chances of being selected in the Chinese Olympic team for Rio 2016.”

ISHIKAWA was happy with her silver medal, but was disappointed she could not win a dream gold in front of her home crowd: “I led 10-9 in the first game. I had a chance, I missed the chance but Liu Shiwen is a superb player, overall I have to be pleased with my efforts in this tournament.”

The third place play off was between two women that differed in age by 21 years, but both played the tournaments of their lives here in Sendai.

21 year Petrissa SOLJA (GER), who beat world number six FENG Tianwei (SIN) and world number four Ai FUKUHARA (JPN) before her remarkable run, was finally stopped by the eventual winner, LIU Shiwen in the semi final.

42 year old LI Jiao (NED) proved that she was not slowing down with age, as she caused the biggest upset of 2015 by beating the number two seed and Asian champion ZHU Yuling (CHN) in the quarter finals before coming up short against ISHIKAWA in the final four showdown.

Liu Shiwen claims 4th gold at 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup to be named alongside legends

SOLJA proved to be too strong in the bronze medal decider, winning 7-11, 6-11, 11-2, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 against the tiring LI to become the first ever German to win an ITTF Women’s World Cup bronze medal.

The world’s best table tennis players now head to GAC Group 2015 World Tour Swedish Open which begins on 11 December. This is the final chance for players to collect priceless Race to Lisbon points to qualify for the prestigious GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals to be held in Lisbon, Portugal on 10-13 December 2015.

14 Year Old Ito Becomes Youngest Ever World Tour Champion

14-year-old Mima ITO (JPN) has shocked the table tennis world, by becoming the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour German Open Champion today in Bremen, Germany.

ITO, who is currently 14 years and 152 days old,became the youngest ever ITTF World Tour women’s singles champion, after she defeated local hero Petrissa SOLJA (GER) 9-11, 13-11, 7-11, 11-7, 14-12, 12-10 in a dramatic final.

Ito again rewrites table tennis history by becoming the youngest ever World Tour Champion!

The Japanese sensation, who is used to making history after winning last year’s German Open women’s doubles title as a 13-year-old, stated:

“I am shocked and ecstatic to win such a big title at my age. This is just the beginning for me, I now need to continue playing at this high level and win many more titles.”

Clearly not satisfied with just the title here in Germany, the teenager has set higher goals:

“I now want to qualify for the Japanese team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and do well. This will then give me the experience I need of realize my dream of gold in the singles and team event at my home Olympics, Tokyo 2020.”

Runner-up SOLJA won a remarkable 14 straight matches on her march to the final, which included picking up the women’s doubles and under-21 titles along the way. This was also a historic achievement, as no player has ever featured in all three finals at an ITTF World Tour event.

The world number 45 teamed up with German compatriot SHAN Xiaona to defeat the Hong Kong pair of DOO Hoi Kem & LEE Ho Ching 11-6,11-6,11-9 to claim the women’s doubles title and defeated Hina HAYATA (JPN) 11-9, 11-1, 11-5 to secure the under-21 title.

While ITO was winning her first ITTF World Tour event, MA Long won his 19th in the men’s singles.

MA clinched gold by defeating teammate and World and Olympic Champion ZHANG Jike in the final 11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 14-16, 11-6, 14-12, 11-8.

The 26-year-old world number one, had to save a match point before getting revenge over ZHANG, who defeated him just five months ago in the Liebherr 2014 Men’s World Cup.

Venue of the 2015 German Open, credit ittfworld

“It was an extremely close match, with every single point being a big fight. Last time I played him in Germany I lost (at the Liebherr 2014 Men’s World Cup), which was very disappointing , so I am happy that we are now 1-1 and this time I can go home happy,” stated the now three times German Open Champion.

The victory gives now the three times German Open champion apsychologicaledge heading into the Qoros 2015 World Table Tennis Championships just 35 days way in Suzhou, China:

“This victory gives me massive confidence for the upcoming World Championships. ZHANG will be one of my biggest rivals there, so knowing I can beat him gives me great belief that I can win my first ever singles World Championships title.”

Germany picked up their third title for the event in the men’s doubles, where Timo BOLL partnered with Patrick FRANZISKA to defeat the Russian pair of Kirill SKACHKOV & Alexey SMIRNOV 11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 11-8.

The men’s under-21 final was an all Korean affair, with KIM Donghyun defeating close friend KIM Minhyeok 11-6, 14-12, 11-7.

The world’s best table tennis players now head to Almeria for the GAC Group World Tour Spanish Open which begins on 25 March 2015.

Feng Tianwei Breaks Chinese Winning Streak To Claim First Ever Asian Cup Gold

Singapore’s FENG Tianwei made history on 15 March 2015, as she upset the top seed, LIU Shiwen (CHN) at the GAC Group 2015 Asian Cup held from 13 – 15 March 2015 in the Indian city of Jaipur.

The GAC Group 2015 Asian Cup is the continental qualification for the Men’s & Women’s World Cups later in the year, with the top three placed players gaining direct entry to the prestigious events.

In the Women’s Singles gold medal match, FENG overcame world number three LIU 4-2 (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-1, 12-10) to claim her first ever Asian Cup gold, breaking China’s streak of eight consecutive gold in the Women’s Singles category.

Earlier in the group stage, 28 year old FENG also defeated the other Chinese female player in action, ZHU Yuling, in 3 straight games (11-7, 11-5, 11-5), which is her first win in nine encounters with ZHU on the international arena.

After her triumph against the world number three in the final hurdle, an excited FENG shared “I never thought I would win! In the sixth game I knew I had a chance, I wanted to win so much, I was so nervous!”

In a tense final against compatriot FAN Zhendong (CHN), World number 2 XU Xin (CHN) came back from 1-3 deficit to win 4-3 (11-8, 11-13, 11-13, 5-11, 11-8,11-4, 11-7, taking his third Asian Cup Men’s Singles crown.

Despite winning in the 7-games thriller against the reigning Youth Olympic Champion, XU stated, ‘I won the first game quite comfortably, and I believed that I could win. However, I made some mistakes during the match and lost the next three games. After losing the fourth game, I tried to stay calm.”

Feng Tianwei made history by winning the Asian Cup in India.

“FAN Zhendong played well, he was very positive. It was just as hard today as two years ago in Hong Kong” added the 25-year-old.

In the bronze medal match, Japan’s Jun MIZUTANI & China’s ZHU Yuling secured the third ticket to the Men’s & Women’s World Cups respectively. MIZUTANI had accounted for TANG Peng (HKG) 4-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8), while ZHU defeating Ai FUKUHARA (JPN) 4-1 (11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-9), to gain direct qualification from the Asian Cup.

With the conclusion of the GAC Group 2015 Asian Cup, all eyes now turn to the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour German Open that starts 18 March in Bremen, Germany.

Qualifications for 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)