Women's Table Tennis World Cup

When I first moved into my new apartment over here I was pleased to see there was a ping pong table. I have always enjoyed playing ping pong, so I thought that I might get a chance to play a little while I was here. Then I realized that this is Asia; they don't play ping-pong here, they play table tennis... and they play very well! Some of the pudgy old men that play here can really smack the ball around. Thus, I have decided to remain a ping pong spectator.

Women's Table Tennis World Cup

This weekend Kuala Lumpur hosted the Women's Table Tennis World Cup. Because I have only seen top level ping pong played on TV, I thought it might be fun to view it in person. So on Friday afternoon I went out to the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Statdium to watch the first day of the three day tourney. Nineteen players from 14 countries (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Canada, Congo, New Zealand, and Mexico, including six of the top ten ranked players in the world were in KL, so the table tennis quality was pretty impressive (just like the game that I used to play in our rec room). All but three of the players (from Mexico, Poland, and Hungary) were of Asian descent. I was the only white guy in the crowd who was not part of the "official table tennis community". Here are some views.

Opening Ceremonies

Malaysian cheerleaders lead the parade. Because the opening ceremonies were at 2:30 in the afternoon the crowd was pretty sparse. Attendence picked up throughout the day.


Here comes some of the players. If you look carefully at the player in the red and white warm up suit (from Poland), then you might notice that her arm barely extends below her elbow. She was able to use her shortened arm to toss the ball up to serve and play at a world class level with only one hand. Pretty impressive!


Some of the best female table tennis players in the world.


There were several long speaches given by various dignitaries before the action started. I think that they were speaking in English, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. No wonder the Chinese players look so bored.



Officials Preparing For the Match

Checking the net height.


Checking the width of the paddles. Af the end of each match the officials would collect the paddles and only return them at the start of the next match.


A View Of The Action

Each match is the best out of seven games. Games are played to 11 points. Each player serves twice and then the opponent serves twice. From my "expert" point of view, the game at this level seems to be one based on disguising the spin and pace of the ball. Ocassionally, the game escalates into a furious rally with both players smashing the ball as hard as they can which is very exciting and fun to watch.



There were two matches going on simultaneously.


Some Of The Players

Zhang Mo, from Canada, who is the current North American champion. Ranked 113th in the world.


Silvia Yadira, from Mexico, who is the current Latin American champion. Ranked 272nd in the world.


Yang Feng, born in China but represents Congo Brazzaville, is the current African Champion. Ranked 151st in the world. Yang Feng had the most interesting service syle because she would toss the ball about ten feet in the air before sticking it. There were basically two tournements going on at once. Clearly the best table tennis is played in Asia and Europe. Four participants from the remainder of the world (North American, Latin America, Africa, and Oceania) were invited and played in the International Cup, eventually won by Yang Feng. The difference in quality between the best Asian players and those from the rest of the world was obvious even to me.


Feng Tianwei, from Singapore, is currently ranked second in the world. If you look at the table behind her then you can see the Polish player preparing to serve.


Tie Yana, from Hong Kong, is ranked 19th in the world. In the best match I saw, she upsent Feng Tianwei in a match that went seven games.


Hirono Sayaka, from Japan, who is ranked 14th in the world.


Guo Yan, from China, who is ranked 3rd in the world.



And The Winner Is.....

The two semifinals both matched a player from China against a player from Hong Kong. Jian Huajunm from Hong Kong, faced Guo Yan, from China in the finals. Guo Tan became the champion (earning the $45,000 prize money) by winning 4-1 thus maintaining China's deominance in the World Cup. A player from China has won every Women's World Cup (first played in 1996) and this was just the third time in history that a non-Chinese player had participated in the finals.