Success for the Canadians at the 2012 GAC Group Slovenian Open
- Details
- Published on Saturday, 28 January 2012 22:06
The Canadian Men's Team put on a spectacular performance at the 2012 GAC Group Slovenian Open, the second stop on the ITTF World Tour. Eugene Wang, Chen Hongtao, and Pierre-Luc Hinse advanced from their groups undefeated. Chen had a notable 4-2 victory over the dangerously dynamic French junior Quentin Robinot, as did Hinse against the Australian ace William Henzell.
Unfortunately for the team, Hinse was defeated by the Czech Antonin Gavlas in the preliminary rounds and Chen was disqualified in the main draw, advancing the veteran He Zhiwen. Wang, however, continued his roll with an incredible victory over #17 in the world, Gao Ning! Even with that his business in Velenje was not finished, and continued his streak through Yang Zi and Tan Ruiwu, both ranked easily in the top 100. It finally took world #1 Ma Long of China to stop him in the quarterfinals.
If such high-level play is a sign of things to come, the US Men's Team is going to have to come out swinging at the North American Continental Trials in April if they intend to claim any of the three spots to compete in the Olympics.
2012 Olympic Team Trials Entries Finalized
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 26 January 2012 08:50
The final list of entries for the 2012 Olympic Team Trials has been announced.
The top ten players will be seeded into the Trials directly. The remaining players will compete for the precious two remaining positions in a round-robin tournament. The Trials will be organized as a single round-robin where all twelve players compete against every other player. The four players with the best record will then be qualified for the North American Continental Trials to be held in April in Cary, NC.
Both events will be held at the Bond Park Community Center in Cary, NC. The Qualification Tournament will be held Feb. 9th followed by the Trials from Feb. 10th through Feb. 12th.
Spectators are welcome and encouraged to witness the highest level of table tennis the US has to offer!