by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Meanwhile, third place was secured by Team JJ with Vladimir Samsonov, Chuang Chih-Yuan and Jeoung Youngsik on duty, the team being completed by Liu Fei, Jeon Jihee and Matilda Ekholm. A total of 254 games won was their lot.

Narrow margins to decide the final places, close behind in fourth place came Team Rossi; the outfit comprising Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Paul Drinkhall and Liu Dingshuo who joined forces with Cheng I-Ching, Elizabeta Samara and Georgina Pota. They recorded 252 games won.

Performance of the concluding series of fixtures was that achieved by Team JJ; they beat Team Rossi 16-13, Team Persson 19-12 and Team Maze 17-12. Conversely for Team Rossi it was the reverse scenario; having lost to Team JJ, they suffered at the hands of Team Maze 19-13 and Team Persson 16-15. A close call for Team Persson, it was even closer in the opening fixture of the concluding series; a 16-all draw was the outcome against Team Maze.

A notable effort by Team JJ but the player of the concluding series was undoubtedly Jun Mizutani on duty for Team Persson. He emerged the one player to win all his three matches. He beat Chen Chien-An (5-1), Vladimir Samsonov (4-2) and Dimitrij Ovtcharov (4-2).

Defeat for Dimitrij Ovtcharov but in the Men’s Standings he finished in first place, clear of the field with 52 games being won. Next in line came Chuang Chih-Yuan followed by Timo Boll, Vladimir Samsonov and Jun Mizutani.  Each won 48 games; Chuang Chih-Yuan gained second place having a plus eight games difference as opposed to Timo Boll and Vladimir Samsonov who had finished with a plus seven games difference; for Jun Mizutani it was plus three. Timo Boll and Vladimir Samsonov level, the telling factor was that Timo Boll won 756 points as opposed to Vladimir Samsonov who secured 752 points.

Dimitrij Ovtcharov clear of the field; in the Women’s Standings, first place was secured by Liu Fei with 52 games won, second place being in the possession of Shi Xunyao who secured 49 games. Each with 49 games gained, Feng Tianwei and Bernadette Szocs ended matters next on the list; Feng Tianwei with a plus 17 games difference as opposed to Bernadette Szocs with a plus seven games advantage gained the higher position.

Cheng I-Ching ended matters in fifth place having won 45 games, sixth position was secured by Georgina Pota, 37 games gained.

The top two teams plus the top four male and top four female players will be invited to the Grand Finals to be staged from Thursday 7th to Saturday 9th December.

T2 Asia-Pacific League:  Full details and latest results