May 6, 2015

USA Wins Bid for 2018 World Veterans

Here’s the USATT article, here’s the ITTF article, and here’s the newly created home page. This is one of the single largest table tennis tournaments in the world, if not the largest, with up to 5000 participants expected. It'll take place in Las Vegas, June 18-24, 2018.

A special thanks needs to go to the USA Organizing Committee, which has worked tirelessly on this - Dan Seemiller, Dave Sakai, Stellan Bengtsson, Mike Babuin, and Dean Johnson. USATT CEO Gordon Kaye did the final presentation at the ITTF meeting at the Worlds, and I'm told did an excellent job. USA beat out bids from table tennis powers France, Japan, and South Korea. I've seen the PDF version of the USA bid, and it's excellent - it practically screams competence and excitement. (I hope they'll put it online - I’ve already spoken to them about this, and will link to it when/if it does.) Here's the USATT notice from April 14 of our being one of the four finalists.

For perspective, here's the home page for the 2014 World Veterans in Auckland, New Zealand. Here's the results, which show the 31 events held. If you can't wait until 2018, here's the 2016 World Veterans, held May 23-29 in Costa Blanca, Spain.

One note of interest - USA’s Cheng Yinghua will be turning 60 in November of 2018, but ages are as of Dec. 31, so he will be eligible for 60-64 singles. He'll be a strong contender for that title. Dan Seemiller will also likely be a contender in that age group - and imagine those two in doubles!!! (Lefty Dan is good at singles, but he's actually a lot better at doubles. He and brother Ricky once made the quarterfinals at the Worlds.) Heck, maybe we can get USA coaches Stellan Bengtsson, Li Zhenshi, and Zhang Li back in training! (I’ve already heard rumors that Stellan might start training again.) USA actually has some of the best senior players in the world; there’s something about the culture here where players continue to play for a lifetime, while overseas players seem to quit more often once their primary playing careers are over.

Some of us are already thinking beyond 2018. If we show the ITTF we can do a great job with this, why not the unthinkable? The World Championships has never been run in the U.S. - let's bring it here. But in both cases, the World Veterans and/or World Championships, my primary interest is looking to see how we can use these events to develop and promote table tennis in the U.S., i.e. will it make us better, or will the tournament come and go, and we’re no better off than before? Let’s make sure it has a lasting impact.

Now I have to figure out what my role at the tournament will be. Player? Coach? Organizer? Writer? Ballboy? We'll see.

Moving Forward and Backward and Cross-Step Training

Here’s Moving Forward and Backward part 1 (1:19) and part 2 (1:40), and here’s Cross-Step Training part 1 (1:36) and part 2 (1:34).

Ask the Coach

  • Episode #119 (22:50) - Timo Boll’s Early Ball
  • Episode #120 (24:04) - Ma Long vs. Waldner. From 1:10 to 2:00 they discuss the new ITTF rule (starting Oct. 1, 2016) where coaches can coach between points. “Not a fan at all” and “I’d rather just see a contest between players” are two comments.

World Rankings

Here are the new ITTF world rankings after the Worlds, and here’s an article on them from Table Tennista. The main change is that Fang Bo jumped from #14 to #8. The shocker to me is Mu Zi of China, who was unranked last ranked #73 in June of 2014 [thanks for correction from Steve Grant]. She beat Feng Tianwei (world #4) and Kasumi Ishikaws (world #5), and a number of others before losing 4-3 in the semifinals of women’s singles to eventual winner Ding Ning. Her initial world ranking? #37!!! She should easily be somewhere in the top ten.

11 Questions with Sean O’Neill

Here’s the USATT interview.

Interview with Patrick Franziska

Here’s the article from MH Table Tennis with the German who “…reached new heights at the 2015 World Table Tennis Championships in Suzhou, China by reaching the last 8 players in the draw.”

Judah Friedlander World Champion Smashes All Comers at Moontower Ping Pong

Here’s the article.

Bionic Man’s Heart Beats for Table Tennis

Here’s the front page story in the Times of India about Navin Kumar, a student of mine. Here’s the entire front page, and here’s page 2. (I’m mentioned on page 2!)

Christian Suss Retires

Here’s the article on the German star, who reached #17 in the world in 2010.

India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta on the Operating Table

Here’s the article. The world #32 will be out 3-4 months.

2014 USATT COY Yang Yu Publishes Research Looks to Advance US Table Tennis

Here’s the article.

2015 US Open 41 Point Handicap Chart

Here’s the article about the system to be used for Handicap Singles at the upcoming U.S. Open. Why not run a handicap tournament at your tournament or club? However, this brings back bad memories for me! At some major 4-star tournament many years ago I made the semifinals against some player rated under 1000. In a single game to 51 points I had to spot him 47 points! I tied it at 48-all - then lost on three nets and edges!

2015 Jack Kelly Fair Play Award

Here’s the USOC article. “The Jack Kelly Fair Play Award was established by the United States Olympic Committee in 1985 to honor the late USOC President Jack Kelly Jr. The award is presented to an athlete, team, coach or official in recognition of an outstanding act of fair play and sportsmanship displayed during the past year.”

Continuous Play and Time Wasting

Here are two articles on the topic, from Table Tennis 365 and from All About Table Tennis.

Uberpong Startup

Uberpong needs 250 votes to be considered for a $100,000 grant. Here’s where you can vote! They make custom paddles, such as these Mayweather vs. Pacquiao ones. (Here’s the non-Facebook version.)

More Pictures of Ariel Hsing with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Her Parents

Here are the pictures from Facebook. Click to see more. (Here’s the article and video I linked to on Monday.)

Watch Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois school Cesar Azpilicueta at table tennis

Here’s the article with a link to the 33-sec video of what I suspect is the best rally they’ve ever played.

Table Drawings

Here’s the sea lion on one side, and the arrow man on the other side. (Non-Facebook versions: sea lion and arrow man.)

Out-of-this-World Pong

More Mike Mezyan Pictures

NOTE - If you are unable to see these pictures, all you have to do is join the Table Tennis Group - it's easy! Here are all the past, present, and (soon) future pictures he's collected. (I pick out his best ones for here - he has more.)

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