The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2019 ITTF World Championships

  • History making Ma Long retains men’s singles title

    China’s Ma Long becomes the first player in the history of the ITTF World Championships to claim the title three times in a row after the Olympic Champion won his third consecutive men’s singles title at the 2019 ITTF World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

    For this, the Chinese star has inscribed his name in the history books of sport as he overcame Sweden’s Mattias Falck in five games (11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5), with the Swedish proving a more than worthy adversary.

    Thus for the sixth consecutive occasion Ma Long stood on the men’s singles podium when the World Championships curtain closed, more significantly for the third time in a row on the top step.

    Most certainly he was tested, after losing the opening two games, Mattias Falck dominated the third before establishing an 8-6 lead in the fourth, at 9-8 in arrears Ma Long called “Time Out”, advice from coach Qin Zhijian, the pause worked to perfection. A two game cushion a more relaxed Ma Long, pressed the accelerator.

    “I think this is a special celebration for me and I just want to enjoy this moment for now.

    I want thank my Chinese fans and also the foreign fans for their support. I am not only interested in winning this title but I also want to gain your respect.” Ma Long

    Only on debut, when in 2017 in the fourth round in Zagreb he tried to blast the defensive skills of the Korea Republic’s Joo Saehyuk out of the water and duly came to grief, has Ma Long not departed with a men’s singles medal. Commencing in 2009 in Yokohama, on three editions it was a semi-final defeat at the hands of colleague Wang Hao; in 2015 in Suzhou he turned the corner and ever since has been driving down the main road.

    He now joins the elite club of which Hungarian born Victor Barna and China’s Zhuang Zedong are members; players who have won the men’s singles title at a World Championships on three consecutive occasions.

    Notably in an era when the event was he held on an annual basis Victor Barna won in 1930 in Berlin, before in 1931 being the runner up in Budapest; one year later he succeeded in 1932 in Prague and then on the next three occasions to make it an incredible four in row, five overall.

    A total of six World Championships and always a place on the podium, it is the same number for Ma Long but note over a period of more than a decade, as opposed to the seven-year period of Victor Barna. The two great names stand shoulder to shoulder.

    Equally, Ma Long matches Zhuang Zedong, the winner on three consecutive occasions, when as now the event is held on a biennial basis; he won in 1961 in Beijing, in 1963 in Prague and then in 1965 in Ljubljana. One can only surmise but had it not been for the Cultural Revolution would he have made it four in a row in 1967 in Stockholm? It is to that illustrious club Ma Long now belongs; legendary status.

    Also, China continues their dominance in the tournament after Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu won the women’s doubles title to bring to a conclusion eight days of action.

    In the final hurdle they recovered from a 2-0 down to beat Japan’s Hina Hayata and Mima Ito in six games (8-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-3, 12-10, 11-8) to arrest the title.

  • Abiodun, Toriola, others may get improved ranking

    Despite their early exits at the 2019 ITTF World Championships in Budapest, Nigeria’s Bode Abiodun, Segun Toriola, Olajide Omotayo, Olfunke Oshonaike, Edem Offiong and Ajoke Ojomu may get improved ranking when the May 2019 ITTF ranking is released next week.

    From their performance in Budapest, it was clear that the win recorded by the Nigerians will rub off positively on their fortune in the latest ranking.

    Despite going out from the group stages, Toriola, Omotayo, Oshonaike, Offiong and Ojomu will be rewarded for their victory against their opponents with ranking points as well as participation bonus points when the rating will be unveiled.

    However, Abiodun who was unbeaten in the group may get a much more improvement following his exploits in the group and for making the knockout round of the preliminary.

    The best performing African player in the competition is Aruna Quadri and there are strong indications that he might jumped into top 20 in the world.

    Despite exiting in the first round of the men’s singles, Egypt’s Omar Assar and Ahmed Saleh may also gain some points for starting their campaigns from the main draw.

    Dina Meshref, the only African female player that progressed to the second round of the women’s singles will surely get an improved rating when the ranking is released next week.

  • Playing against Timo Boll excites Omotayo

    As a cadet player, Olajide Omotayo used to admire the skills of Germany’s Timo Boll and he was fond of watching his videos but on Monday April 22 at the 2019 ITTF World Championships in Budapest, the 23-year-old played against his longtime idols in the main draw of the men’s doubles event.

    Despite forcing the Germans to rely on their experience to overcome them, Omotayo told NationSport that he was so excited playing against Timo Boll.

    “I was looking up to Timo Boll when I started playing table tennis because he was such a legend of the game. His style of play is a beauty to behold and I am so excited when I found out that we are going to face them in the main draw of the men’s doubles. I made sure I give my best but I realized that this great German star still has a lot to offer despite ageing,” Omotayo said.

    The Italy-based star believes playing well against Boll has inspired him. “I think when we were leading Timo changed something in the match and this diffuse our tactics. The German has shown that he has experience and this really came to fore against us in the match. After we lost the fourth game for the match to be at 2-2, we lost concentration and this really affected us to lose the match. I am so excited playing against Timo and it was a rare privilege playing against such a great player and I think this will motivate me to aim higher in my career,” the 2018 African Championship semifinalist said.

  • Aruna Quadri jumps into second round

    The manner that Aruna Quadri defeated Belgium’s Florent Lambient again showed his readiness to excel at the 2019 ITTF World Championships holding in Budapest, Belgium.

    But it was an early exit for Egypt’s Omar Assar after he fell 4-3 to Portugal’s Joao Geraldo in the first round of the men’s singles.

    Africa’s only surviving female player in the competition remains Egypt’s Dina Meshref after her compatriots – Yousra Helmy and Reem El-Eraky tasted defeats in the first round matches of the women’s singles.

    From the start of the encounter against the Belgian, Quadri took charge and he ensured that he did not give the European any breathing space even though there were some jittery in the first two games.

    The African champion claimed the first two games in a closed encounter with 11-8, 11-9 and from there his confidence grew to end the next two games at 11-7, 11-5.

    On the opposite side of Quadri was Egypt’s Assar battling for his life against the Portuguese southpaw who has always been his nemesis in several competitions.

    Assar was leading 3-1, but the Portuguese star fought back to end the dream of the Egyptian in the first round at 11-13, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9.

     

    Yousra Helmy was set up against world number one, Ning Ding but the Chinese star wasted no time in sending the Egyptian packing with a 4-0 bashing.

     

    Reem El-Eraky was also no match to Ukraine’s Ganna Gaponova as the Egyptian fell 4-0 as well.

    Cameroun’s Sarah Hanffou who was playing in her first main draw of a World Championships could withstand the pace of China’s Manyu Wang to concede 0-4 defeat as well.

    The only hope for Africa rests with Dina Meshref who came from 3-0 down to beat India’s Archana Girish Kamath 4-3 (8-11, 8-11, 17-19, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4)

    Aruna Quadri will battle Iran’s  Nima Alamian while Meshref will take on Canada’s Mo Zhang in the second round tie later.

  • Experience gave us an edge over Nigeria in men’s doubles, admits Timo Boll

    After coming from behind to beat Nigeria’s duo of Aruna Quadri and Olajide Omotayo in the main draw of the men’s doubles of the 2019 ITTF World Championships, Germany’s Timo Boll has admitted that experience played vital part in their triumph over the Africans.

    The Germans had to come from 2-1 down to beat the Nigerians 4-2 in the explosive encounter with the German legend – Timo Boll partnering Patrick Franziska in the match.

    “It was a tough match because we never expected them to give a serious challenge and this happened. From the start they are very strong but we had to restrategise to overcome. I think experience holds the key for us in the encounter. We had to rely on our experience in the game to muscle the victory from them. I am so happy we started well and I hope we will improve as we progress,” he admitted.

    Quadri and Omotayo gave the fans something to cheer in the encounter with their display against the experienced Germans. The backhand spin from Omotayo most times confused Timo Boll but the change of tactics from the Germans demystified the Nigerians in the match.

  • Painful exit for Oshonaike in singles

    Having enjoyed an easy win in the first group match of the 2019 ITTF World Championships, it was a painful exit for Olufunke Oshonaike yesterday in the women’s singles after she narrowly lost to Estonia’s Airi Avameri in the deciding match of the group.

    Before the tie against the Estonian, Oshonaike was one win from making the main draw just like she did in 2017 in China, but a sheer ill-luck coupled with the disposition of her opponent, Oshonaike exited the tournament abruptly.

    A disappointed Oshonaike told NationSport: “I really wanted to win this match but it became difficult for me because my opponent was using long pimples. This really made it hard for me to predict what she will play. She is a good fighter as well because I thought that if I had won the second game, it would have been a different ball game entirely. The second game was very crucial unfortunately I lost. It is very painful for me losing this match because I prepared very well for this tournament.”

    She now shifted attention to the African Cup and African Games later in the year. “I think this is also a good preparation for me for the Africa Cup and African Games; I hope to continue my training and work more on myself before these important tournaments later in the year,” she added.