Austrian comeback catches the eye (Halmstad 2018)
Men’s Team: Quarter-Finals
What a comeback! Team Austria has just pulled off an incredible feat in the men’s team quarter-finals, fighting back from 0-2 down to beat Portugal 3-2 here in Halmstad.
The battle of the two former European Championship winning nations proved an absolute thriller for spectators. Up against the ropes at the halfway stage of play, Austria performed great heroics as Daniel Habesohn and Stefan Fegerl stepped up to see off Joao Monteiro (12-10, 11-9, 11-6) and Tiago Apolonia (11-9, 11-3, 11-9). Then in the deciding fixture, Robert Gardos stunned Marcos Freitas (11-5, 11-5, 4-11, 11-9) to clinch victory from the jaws of defeat!
Unified Korea team formed (Halmstad 2018)
Women’s Team: Quarter-Finals
Putting diplomacy front and centre we have a wonderful story to tell from Halmstad as Korea Republic and DPR Korea decide to join forces as a Unified Korea team.
Originally scheduled to meet head-to-head in the quarter-finals, the formation of the Unified Korea team is a tremendous sign of Ping Pong Diplomacy at its best. The Unified Korea will be in action against Japan on 4th May.
To Halmstad we go
Our final time jump of the day takes us to the 2018 World Team Championships in Halmstad.
Path to glory
Relive Ma Long’s path to the 2015 World Championships title with our in-depth look back at his historic campaign:
Ma Long crowned World champion!!! (Suzhou 2015)
Men’s Singles: Final
Incredible scenes here as Ma Long leaps atop the table in celebration for he has been crowned men’s singles champion of the world for the first time!
Taking a slight hit to his momentum off the back of the previous game but Ma doesn’t let that affect him, upping the pace in game six to storm to victory (11–7, 7–11, 11–4 ,11–8, 11–13, 11–4). Congratulations to 2015 World champion Ma Long!
Tight contest but Ma closing in (Suzhou 2015)
Men’s Singles: Final
Five games played and it’s Ma Long who holds the advantage in the this extraordinary men’s singles final here in Suzhou. Nothing to separate the two finalists by the close of game two, Fang Bo has more than held his own and has saved one Championship Point opportunity in game five to keep his dreams alive. The score sits at 3-2 in Ma’s favour – who will be crowned World champion?
Fang Bo sends Zhang Jike packing (Suzhou 2015)
Men’s Singles: Final
Two-time and defending champion Zhang Jike is out of the men’s singles contest in Suzhou after falling to a shock semi-final defeat at the hands of Fang Bo (11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 12-10).
Fang, who caused a huge upset two rounds earlier with his Round of 16 victory over Xu Xin, is surely the surprise package of the tournament. The no.13 seed has taken down two of the sport’s, let alone the country’s, finest players in Xu and Zhang. Spectators have been left stunned at the Suzhou International Expo Center!
Liu Shiwen and Zhu Yuling land doubles gold (Suzhou 2015)
Women’s Doubles: Final
We’ve just seen Liu Shiwen and Zhu Yuling secure the women’s doubles crown at the 2015 World Championships here in Suzhou with a 4-2 victory over Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia (8-11 11-8, 3-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9).
Rivals in yesterday’s women’s singles final, Liu and Ding were on opposite ends of the table again for this title decider. If you remember Ding went down with ankle problems in that final and the issue was still present to see today, struggling to move at times in the doubles final. Putting up a brave fight but ultimately Ding and Li were second best as Liu and Zhu proved too strong on this occasion.
Thriller in Tokyo! (Tokyo 2014)
Women’s Teams: Quarter-final
These matches just keep on entertaining! In the women’s quarter-final between Team Japan and Team Netherlands, the one significant winner was the crowd – jumping and gasping as this roller-coaster match unfolded. The Dutch, chasing their first ever semi-final appearance showed immense steel in the way they approached their battle against the host side.
As Sayaka Hirano beat Britt Eerland (11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5) in the first match, Li Jiao levelled things up, winning 3-2 (11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 10-12) against Kasumi Ishikawa. This was the story of the match as Li Jiao again brought balance to the tie with her win over Hirano (11-9, 10-12, 3-11, 11-4, 7-11) after Yuka Ishigaki defeated Li Jie in four games. In the decider, it was the grit from Ishikawa who held her nerve to beat Eerland (11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-6) and break the hearts of the Netherlands fans.
Chuang takes Chinese Taipei to first ever semi-final! (Tokyo 2014)
Men’s Teams: Quarter-final
What a conclusion to this epic match! Chuang Chih-Yuan has led his national team to their first-ever semi-final appearance at a World Championships, and he’s done it in style!
After winning against Jeoung Youngsik, Chuang went on to beat Joo Saehyuk (9-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-6, 11-2) before his teammate Chen Chien-An wrapped up the overall 3-2 win over Korea Republic by beating Jeoung Youngsik in four games (11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9).
Honours even to start for Chinese Taipei & Korea Republic (Tokyo 2014)
Men’s Teams: Quarter-final
Welcome back to the 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships, here in Tokyo. It has been an even start to proceedings as Team Chinese Taipei and Team Korea Republic are locked at 1-1 after two matches.
Joo Saehyuk first beat Chen Chien-An (11-3, 12-14, 11-6, 11-13, 8-11) before Chen’s colleague Chuang Chih-Yuan balanced things out with a 3-1 win over the talented Jeoung Youngsik (11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 12-10). Who will blink first in this quarter-final?
Li and Cao upset the favorites (Yokohama 2009)
Mixed Doubles: Final
Well well well, what have we here! The favorities for the title and gold medal in the mixed doubles’ category have been soundly defeated by the underdogs, as Li Ping and Cao Zhen win 4-2 (11-6, 4-11, 11-7, 9-11, 13-11, 11-8) against Zhang Jike and Mu Zi!
In a battle of high stakes and even higher ratio of never-ending rallies, Li and Cao have certainly made a name for themselves after doing what many thought was impossible! Despite the best efforts of Zhang and Mu, their Chinese teammates were just not to be foiled of their World Champions status today.
Wang wins Chinese duel (Yokohama 2009)
Men’s Singles: Quarter-finals
Things are heating up here at the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships in Yokohoma, Japan as a Chinese domestic with certain sparks has just been concluded in the quarter-finals.
Wang Liqin faced off against his compatriot and friend, Chen Qi in a hugely entertaining match. With each passing game, the crowd was forced to reconsider the possibility of the other players’ victory as Wang and Chen traded wins and the balance of the play was hardly shifting. Showing his true ability to stay clam under pressure, Wang managed to turn the tide after going 2-3 down in the fifth game, winning the final two to secure his place in the semi-finals (8-11, 11-4, 11-6, 10-12, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8)!
Moon Hyungjung shocks Wang Nan! (Shanghai 2005)
Women’s Singles: Round Three
Welcome to the 2005 World Table Tennis Championships in Shanghai, where we have already seen a significant departure in the big-names list!
China’s legendary Wang Nan, on her way to a fourth consecutive title after winning in Eindhoven (1999), Osaka (2001) and Paris (2003) has been eliminated by Korea Republic’s Moon Hyungjung in a seven-game nail-biter (14-12, 4-11, 11-6, 5-11, 14-12, 12-14, 11-8)! The strength of Wang on the speed of her shots was neutralized by one of the last remaining Korea Republic female pen-holders, as Moon only used one side of her racket to extract and unforeseen power in her returns.
