In the third round of the men’s singles event Tomokazu Harimoto beat Wong Chun Ting (11-7, 11-5, 11-3, 10-12, 12-10); in the same round of the women’s singles competition, Mima Ito overcame China’s Ding Ning (7-11, 12-10, 18-16, 13-11, 11-9).

Now, if any other 15 year old had beaten the athletic Wong Chun Ting, they would have been dancing in the streets of Tokyo. Tomokazu Harimoto was the higher ranked player, the no.4 seed as opposed to Wong Chun Ting who was the no.14 seed. Furthermore, on the two most recent meetings, in 2018 at the ITTF-Asia Cup in Yokohama and at the Liebherr 2019 World Team Championships in Halmstad, Tomokazu Harimoto had prevailed.

The notable win was arguably the round before, when he had beaten England’s Liam Pitchford, the no.15 seed, in four straight games (11-8, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8), the player against whom had lost on their two previous meetings, last year at the ITTF Team World Cup in London and then at the Liebherr 2019 World Team Championships.

Staying close to table, controlling the play, Tomokazu Harimoto demonstrated a maturity beyond his years against two players who delight in top spin play; it was very much the same for Mima Ito, staying close the table she used her speed and severity on the first three attacking strokes to good effect.

It was a splendid performance from Tomokazu Harimoto, even more so from Mima Ito; not only the fact that Ding Ning was the top seed has won every accolade the sport has to offer and can stand proudly alongside the best who ever lived but for another reason.

At the semi-final stage of the women’s singles event last November at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open, Mima Ito had caused a major upset by beating Ding Ning. Chinese players lose, much less often than others but they do lose; when that happens the coaches watch the videos, make a plan of campaign, avenge the defeat and continue to avenge the defeat.

A classic example involves Ding Ning; at the Seamaster 2017 Asian Championships, Ding Ning lost to Miu Hirano, she then won all of the next five meetings.

Earlier this year in March, Ding Ning redressed the balance against Mima Ito. She prevailed at the quarter-final stage at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open, so surely the pattern against Miu Hirano would follow?

It didn’t and the fact Mima Ito won today in Shenzhen makes the performance even more remarkable.

Now the next question and it applies also to Tomokazu Harimoto, can they repeat the such performances on the really big stage, the biggest of all, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

However, two facts remained constant; China’s Ma Long is on track for a record 28th ITTF World Tour men’s singles title; Japan’s Mima Ito continues to be the biggest threat to Chinese female excellence.

Men’s Singles: Quarter-Finals

…………Ma Long, the no.11 seed beat colleague Fan Zhendong, the top seed (11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 13-11) in the much awaited clash.

…………Lin Gaoyuan, the no.3 seed, withstood a spirited recovery by Chinese national team colleague, Liang Jingkun, the no.9 seed (11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 6-11, 6-11, 11-7).

…………Tomokazu Harimoto, the no.4 seed, kept Japanese hopes alive; he accounted for Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting, the no.14 seed (11-7, 11-5, 11-3, 10-12, 12-10).

…………Xu Xin was in fast lane; the no.2 seed, the Chinese star beat Germany’s Timo Boll, the no.5 seed (11-4, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6).

Women’s Singles: Quarter-Finals

…………Japan’s Mima Ito, the no.7 seed, caused a sensation; she beat China’s Ding Ning, the top seed (7-11, 12-10, 18-16, 13-11, 11-9).

…………Reigning world champion Liu Shiwen, the no.5 seed, departed at the hands of colleague and defending champion Wang Manyu, the no.4 seed (11-6, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4, 13-11).

…………China’s Zhu Yuling, the no.2 seed, won a crucial second game to turn the tide against Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching, the no.8 seed (7-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-4, 11-5).

…………Cheng Meng, the no.3 seed, ended the adventures of Chinese national team colleague, Chen Xingtong, the no.14 seed (11-9, 11-5, 11-3, 11-7).

Men’s Doubles: Final

…………Required to qualify, German’s Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska beat China’s Ma Long and Wang Chuqin, the reigning world champions (11-8, 11-7, 11-5) to secure the title.

Women’s Doubles: Final

…………Qualifiers Gu Yuting and Liu Shiwen beat colleagues and top seeds, Wang Manyu and Zhu Yuling (11-7, 12-10, 11-9) to emerge the champions.

Mixed Doubles: Final

…………Winners earlier in the year at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Oman Plus Open, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching, the no.4 seeds, beat Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem, the top seeds, in the title decider (10-12, 11-6, 11-1, 11-5).

Overall, the ITTF Foundation was nominated in three categories:

…………“Best Corporate Social Responsibility or Community Scheme” for the Buenos Aires – Tokyo Bridging the Olympic Games project and Dream Building with Refugees Za’atari project in Jordan.

…………“Best Sports Governing Body Initiative” for the ITTF Foundation

…………“Best Sports Event of the Year- Overseas” for the annual World Table Tennis Day

In the one year since establishment, ITTF Foundation has sought to build capacity, improve lives and showcase the power and solidarity of table tennis as a sport that breaks barriers. It has promoted the concept of being a catalyst for fostering peace and social cohesion, a sport that improves the health and well-being of individuals regardless of age, physical ability and social status. It is popular, universal and inclusive.

“World Table Tennis Day creates a sense of belonging across the world by encouraging inclusive play; it spreads joy and communalism. Annually, it aims to increase table tennis participation and awareness while aligning our passion to drive positive social change. Table Tennis. For All. For Life.“Thomas Weikert

Also, the International Table Tennis Federation was nominated in the “Best Brand Activation involving Sport” for the 2018 TATA Trickshot Challenge.

The ITTF Foundation received recognition as an organization that is committed and passionate about using table tennis as a tool for peace and sustainable development; empowering local communities and connecting people globally.

Significantly, World Table Tennis Day 2019 celebrations on 6th April, registered an astounding 922 events in 107 countries across the world. The Buenos Aires – Tokyo, Bridging the Olympic Games two year project in Argentina is part of the Foundation’s legacy programme; the Nittaku Dream Building with Refugees in Za’atari is a three year project in Jordan, part of the Dream Building programme that supports humanitarian projects.

“This is a great achievement for us all including our partners, the ITTF Foundation leadership and team as well as for every local organizer who ensures table tennis reaches a bigger and more diverse audience each year. This year was phenomenal, and we owe it to everyone who believes with us, that we are building a better world,” Leandro Olvech

We would like to congratulate all other fellow winners and nominees. Indeed, together we’re creating positive change.

The win was as expected, the duo commenced play as the top seeds, finishing ahead of the combination formed by Great Britain’s Fliss Pickard and Norway’s Merethe Tveiten.

Likewise in group administered events, Croatia’s Andela Muzinic and Helena Dretar justified their top seeded status to emerge the class 2-3 winners, as did Serbia’s Borislava Peric-Rankovic and Nada Matic in class 4-5. It was the same outcome in class 11 for Poland’s Krystyna Lysiak and Dorota Nowacka, they started proceedings as the favourites; they concluded matters as predicted in the role of champions.

However, there were surprises; in class 7-8, the German combination of Stephanie Grebe and Juliane Wolf had to settle for runners up spot behind the partnership formed by the combination of Russia’s Elena Litvinenko and Japan’s Yuri Tomono. In the vital contest when the teams met to determine first place, Elena Litvinenko and Japan’s Yuri Tomono recorded a hard earned 2-1 win.

Similarly, in class 10, the top seeds had to settle for silver. The host nation’s Karolina Pek, Malgorzata Jankowska and Katarzyna Marszal experienced a 2-0 defeat when facing the champions elect, the international combination of Turkey’s Merve Demir, Romania’s Ioana-Monica Tepelea and Nozomi Takeuchi.

Play concluded in Wladyslawowo, attention now turns to a very different part of the world; the destination is Mexico, the resort of Cancun, the Para Copa Cristina Hoffmann 2019 tournament commences on Wednesday 5th June and concludes on Friday 7th June.

2019 Para Polish Open: Latest results and main draws

Representing Sweden, Niklas Westerberg and Jonas Hansson emerged the class 7 winners in a most impressive manner.

Notably at the semi-final stage they recorded a 2-0 win against the top seeds, the combination of the Czech Republic’s Daniel Horhut and Zbynek Lambert who lined up alongside Belgium’s Ben Despineux, prior securing victory in the final by the same margin in opposition to the top seeded Hong Kong pairing of Lee Ling Yip and Chen Silu.

Likewise Great Britain’s Aaron McKibbin and Billy Shilton secured the class 8 title in the same vein. They registered a 2-0 win against the no.2 seeds, Slovakia’s Richard Csejtey and Belgium’s Marc Ledoux in the penultimate round, before repeating the success against Poland’s Macin Skrzynecki and Pior Grudzien to claim the top prize.

Success against the top seeds in the final, it was the same in class 9-10 for Mateo Boheas and Gilles Bourdonnaye of France. After recording a 2-0 semi-final success against Italy’s Mohamed Amine Kalem and Lorenzo Cordua, a 2-1 win in opposition to Spain’s Juan Bautista Perez and Jorge Cardona sealed the title.

Wins very much contrary to status and there was one more but less unexpected. The no.2 seeds, Serbia’s Goran Perlic and Poland’s Tomasz Jakimczuk secured the class 1-2 title. At the final hurdle they accounted for the top seeded combination of Frenchman Fabien Lamirault and Switzerland’s Sylvio Keller; a 2-1 margin of victory was the outcome.

Otherwise in the men’s team events, the top seeds prevailed. Germany’s Thomas Brüchle and Thomas Schmidberger claimed the class 3 title; Poland’s Rafal Lis and Krszysztof Zylka prevailed in class 4, Turkey’s Nesim Turan and Ali Ozturk emerged the class 5 champions.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Alvaro Valera and Alberto Seoane struck gold in class 6, the combination of Hungary’s Peter Palos and Venezuela’s Denisos Martinez emerged the class 11 winners.

Play concluded in Wladyslawowo, attention now turns Cancun in Mexico; the Para Copa Cristina Hoffmann 2019 tournament commences on Wednesday 5th June and concludes on Friday 7th June.

2019 Para Polish Open: Latest results and main draws