by Simon Daish
Partnerships from Korea Republic and Japan celebrated success at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open with Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu securing the Men’s Doubles title in Magdeburg and the pairing of Hina Hayata and Miu Hirano emerging victorious over in the Women’s Doubles draw.
China also came away with a gold medal as Chen Meng reached the top step of the Women’s Singles podium ahead of fellow compatriot Zhu Yuling while the German crowd witnessed superb outings in the Men’s Singles event from the host nation’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Timo Boll who finished in first and second positions respectively.
Next up the focus shifted to Stockholm where the final ITTF World Tour tournament of the year, bar the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, was hosted.
Xu Xin picked up his first Men’s Singles trophy of 2017 with a fine display against Fan Zhendong in the final, but it was the Women’s Singles final which produced the biggest talking point of the event as Chen Xingtong, who entered the competition as an unseeded player, negotiated the qualification tournament before earning victories over the likes of Chen Meng, Zhu Yuling and Ding Ning on her way to winning the title.
Almeria hosted the concluding stage of the 2017 ITTF Challenge Series as Asian stars dominated the proceedings at the 2017 ITTF Challenge Spanish Open.
Both doubles gold medals went to Korean pairings in Almeria while there were also title wins for Japan and India with Hina Hayata and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran overcoming challenges from Jeon Jihee and Kazuhiro Yoshimura to lift the respective Women’s Singles and Men’s Singles trophies.
Three Youth Olympic Games Continental Qualification tournaments were also staged in November as competitors travelled to Greater Noida, Split and Bendigo aiming to book their places at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
Here is the Pongcast question of the month: How many matches did Dimitrij Ovtcharov have to win at the World Tour Grand Finals to secure the number one world ranking?
Comment your answer on the Pongcast post via the ITTF Facebook page and share the video for a chance to win a piece of gear from Nittaku.
Watch the Nittaku ITTF Monthly Pongcast video below to see all of the major news stories from November: