Rising Champ and Newcomer Take Under 21 Titles

In the Under 21 events Oliver Scarlett entered the draw as the top seed in the men's singles and didn't look back once on his way to the finals. With reasonably comfortable wins in his pool he advanced to the main draw. Zhiyang Cheng was saved by countback after losing 3-1 to Bryn Lindsay who later withdrew with a shoulder injury after going through 2nd. Kevin Wu qualified first but was the last of the top group seeds in the 5 groups to do so, Victor Ma and Victor Pollett both losing to their 2nd seeds. 

It was Yang Lun Zhao and Dean Shu who respectively overcame Ma and Pollett to go through their groups first and for Pollett it was nearly the end of the road, trailing 2-0 down in his match against Michael Zhang he scraped through the match to win the last 3 sets and still qualify 2nd.

Ollie Scarlett wins the Under 21 Men's Singles
Image courtesy of Murray Finch

In the first round Alfred Dela-Pena got walkover against Bryn Lindsay and Victor Ma beat Kelsey Amor from Waitemata who had upset Roger Wang to go through his group. The rest of the players advanced straight into the quarterfinal stages. Ollie Scarlett comfortably overcame his younger training partner Alfred in 3 straight sets, and Jon Jon won by the same margin over Dean Shu, reversing the double result of the recent Auckland Open where Dean had won on both occasions. Kevin Wu took revenge on Victor Pollett who had beaten him in the teams contest, this time Wu was the winner in 4 sets. While Victor Ma showed signs of a chance in his match against Zhiyang Cheng, it was the latter who seemed to be in control for most of the game and while he dropped a set it was Cheng who cruised into the semifinals.

Kevin Wu seemed to be hitting on a lot more forehands than we had seen thus far in the tournament against Zhiyang Cheng, it was a 5 set thriller and could have proved to be the perfect preparation for the final for Wu as he came back from 2-1 down to win the last 2 sets 11-5 with some comfort. In the other semifinal Yang Lun Zhao managed to steal a set away from Ollie Scarlett but the usual result between the 2 ensued as Ollie combined tactics. Heavy backspin play and a solid and well timed counterloop over the slightly weaker forehand of Jon Jon was the winning comination for Scarlett as well as his steady and controlled close to table game.

Kevin Wu in the Under 21 Men's Final
Image courtesy of Murray Finch

The final began with Kevin Wu looking like he was about to decimate Scarlett. The first two sets dropped 11-7 in favour of Wu and it was going to be an uphill battle for Scarlett and each set was a battle as Ollie worked his way back, winning 11-9, 11-8 and 11-9. Three sets in a row under immense pressure but he shifted momentum in his favour even by the marginal and crucial number of points that it was. Kevin combined with Zhiyang to win the doubles in straight sets over Dean Shu and Roger Wang in the final, but they had to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the semifinal against junior nationals finalists Michael Zhang and Nathan Watson who seem to be growing steadily as a doubles pairing. However it was Auckland who dominated the under 21 events and it was no different in the women's singles event where Auckland came out on top again.

Under 21 Women's Singles Champion Lucy Lu
Image Courtesy of Murray Finch

Lucy (Guiting) Lu was the newcomer to the draw in the Under 21 Women's singles, having recently moved to New Zealand from China. It was fitting that she won the under 21s considering the following day she made the Open Women's Singles Final. In the group stage no set ventured over the 11-7 margin for Lucy with 3 straight set wins. Angel Huang came through the group 2nd, as did Mariam Seif in her group with a tight 3-2 loss to Natalie Paterson who headed the group seedings anyway. So the 4 players headed straight into the semifinal stages. In similar fashion, Lucy showed no sign of struggle against Mariam's medium pimple rubber backhand and less orthodox style, she won again in straight sets to make the final where she played Natalie Paterson who had won in 4 sets over Angel Huang.

The final was a big challenge for Paterson but as always with Manawatu's champion she invested her absolute best in the fight. Lucy showed pure strength in the topspin rallies with smooth flowing gamestyle and a top level of consistency. While Natalie showed her skill in the rallies it was Lucy that was the dominant player and after 3 sets the gold medal was her reward. In an all local draw Kyra Portis and Mariam Seif won the Under 21 women's doubles and Roger Wang and Lucy combined to win the mixed, overcoming Ollie Scarlett and Angel Huang 3-0 in the semifinal and Zhiyang Cheng and Sara Hu in the final also 3-0. Great results from all contenders!

Tapai Repeats Victory with Style

You only have to watch former Serbian representative Timea Tapai for a matter of rallies before you realise she is one classy act. Tapai headed out onto the table dressed to impress and with her usual artillery of defensive and offensive weapons, ready to defend her gold medal at her 2nd NZ Open. This time on home turf and having been defeated already by defensive opposition Jung Mi Kim in the team event, Timea knew she would have to work hard to achieve the result. 

Timea Tapai wins her 2nd NZ Open Title
Image courtesy of ITTF Oceania

The field was full of potential contenders for the finals spots. Starting out early it was Cath Zhou who turned heads when she tactically and skillfully dismantled the defensive game of Jung Mi Kim to win in straight sets and put the 3rd seed in a tough postion in the group. She then suffered a setback in a 5 set duel with Mariam Seif, who in turn was beaten by Armindeep Singh, both of whom were beaten by Jung Mi 3-0. Confused yet? It was one big mess of results. Cath came through to beat Armindeep 3-2 and on set countback it was Cath who advanced first. Throwing Jung Mi onto Timea's side of the draw.

Timi had already disposed of her competition in convincing fashion with two 3-0 wins, the first of which was her eventual finals opponent, Lu Guiting (Lucy). 

Sophie Shu came flying through her group looking untouchable with 3 convincing straight set wins. In doing so she reversed the Auckland Open result against Sara Hu and exacted the perfect revenge. Into the quarterfinals and the upsets came roaring in.

Timea came up against Jung Mi, potentially the toughest quarterfinal you could ask for really. The match could not have been tighter. Jung Mi took the first, Timea the second. The rallies were long, so long that you could see it coming. Expedite. You could guess immediately that the expedite rule would heavily favour the local, Timi, who's diversity on attacking play is more varied and more frequently used in matches than Jung Mi. For Jung Mi, the ever patient and more traditional Korean defender, it was a matter of taking chances in her hand as the expedite official counted strokes. The smooth attacking play of Timea was unmatched and while Jung Mi hit some amazing attacking strokes, it was Timea who dominated the match from that point to win 4-2.

Natalie Paterson wins Bronze

Natalie Paterson led out with the same fighting spirit she displayed at the North Island Championships this year, though the result was overthrown as she took out 4th seed Sophie Shu in 6 sets with a highly consistant pivot forehand opening ball used on numerous occasions. Lucy Lu showed no signs of weakness against Catherine Zhou, while one set came close for Cath it was plain sailing for Lucy who advanced to the semifinal. 

Vicky Yang was out to regain her national title, the 2010 champion hit a roadblock in her quarterfinal match. Sara Hu was dominant in the crucial end points of the sets in a very tight contest, 2 deuce sets, 2 11-8s and 2 11-9s. There was little room for error. Vicky with her usual fluency was slightly less consistent in the match and Sara Hu took full advantage to book her place in the semifinals.

In a repeat of yesterday's under 21 final Lucy decimated Sara Hu in the semifinals of the women's draw in 4 straight sets, while Timea taught a defensive lesson to Natalie Paterson in even more convincing terms on the top half of the draw. That was a lesson she taught again in the final.

While Lucy executed fantastic mechanics and technique during the rounds, her strength lies in counter topspin play and open rallying. Timea went out and gracefully switched between heavy spin, medium spin and no spin chopping and while Lucy produced in some rallies it was an uphill struggle for her. Without the ability to consistently generate a high level of topspin she was forced to push a large number of balls and the pressure never fell upon the defending champion for very long. Timi made the most of her attacking opportunities and made the chopping look incredibly easy. It was a great display of table tennis and great to have the locals win one of the big titles!

Korean National Staves off Staunch Offensive

The men's singles concluded at the NZ Senior Table Tennis Championships in somewhat the way it was expected. Former Korean National Team member Oh Sang Eun was the gold medallist after winning in the final against Teng Teng Liu, but not without some difficulty. The draw was packed, the standard of competition was fierce and no match went without it's little battles.

Yanglun Zhao makes the first surprise in the draw
Image courtesy of Murray Finch

In the group stages it was role reversal for the 2nd seeds. Of the 12 singles groups only 4 of the 2nd seeds succeeded in qualifying, the other 8 were ousted by their lower seeded competitors in the 3rd position in the groups. Yang Lun Zhao the 12 year old NZ prodigy from the ITTF World Hopes Team succeeded in defeating top 10 NZ representative Yi-Sien Lin in 5 sets, while local chopper Gregg Davey upset Danish import Jesper Villadsen to take the 2nd place spot. Dean Shu unseated Ben Duffy in straight sets and Jerry Zhang eliminated Lyndon White.

Into the main draw's round of 32 and Alfred Dela-Pena caused some trouble for Yi-Sien Lin in the opening stages, the local star Lin managing to compose himself and win in 6 sets. Malcolm Darroch drew first blood by accounting for Josh Alexandre 4-2 while Matthew Ball fought to recover a 3-1 deficit against Zhiyang Cheng to take his match 4-3. Jon Jon struck again with a 6 set win over top 10 ranked player Kevin Wu to make the round of 16.

The seeds prevailed through to the quarters with Mirek Janča having a shaky start against Myles Collins, but from 4-2 it was the Czech player and 5th seed in the event which showed his class and took out the match. John Cordue repeated his teams performance against Yi-Sien Lin, winning comfortably while Ivo Mikulec joined his Czech companion in the quarterfinals with a straight sets win over Stuart Armstrong. Malcolm Darroch stole the limelight of the round by taking a set off Oh Sang Eun, eventually losing 4-1. Oliver Scarlett had a struggle on his hands from a determined Matthew Ball who's forehand was striking at all points on the table. The Aucklander held a 3-1 lead before Ball came firing back playing a steady looping game into Scarlett's backhand half, it proved effective and even in the 7th set it was Ball who seemed to hold the momentum. Scarlett didn't back down and eventually worked hard to claim the set 11-8 and advance into the next round.

Top seed Oh Sang Eun

Phillip Xiao was looking in good form with a 4-0 win over Ivo Mikulec, while Tony Liu exercised the same margin over Mirek Janča. Local 3rd seed Jong Eub Han had a struggle against Ollie Scarlett but closed the match out in 6 sets while Oh Sang Eun made life difficult for John Cordue and won in straight sets, despite the best efforts of the NZ representative. Oh Sang Eun continued into the semifinals, showing his class in a 4-0 domination of Phillip Xiao. The last set yielded a big opportunity for Xiao who held a 10-8 advantage, but a couple of incredibly heavy backspin pushes saw Oh win the vital points and finish the match off. 

Meanwhile Tony Liu was showing absolute class against Jong Eub Han in the other semifinal, strong changes in direction at incredible pace were Liu's big weapons and Han made his best effort to keep up. It was straight sets for Tony but each set was hard fought and earned. The final would be between the top 2 seeds.

A former world number 5 from Korea against a former WR25 junior from China, Oh Sang Eun vs. Teng Teng Liu, a spectacle not to be forgotten after the 2 time New Zealand champion pushed himself to his limits. Wild attacking met with fluid blocking and countering proved to make a match which created a buzz of excitement. As Tony Liu fired up and won the first set the crowd were pumped, the defending champion giving it his all and being rewarded with a 2-1 lead which left supporters in awe and wonder, could Tony defeated his superior international opponent? For some there was no doubt in their mind that Oh Sang Eun would come flying back and he did just that, placing the ball with incredible accuracy and demonstrating incredibly supple wrist control to change the spin and direction of the ball.

Eventually Oh Sang Eun threw himself on his back with his feet in the air to celebrate and let out some relief at his 6 set victory and gold medal win of the men's singles title in New Zealand. A fantastic match and a great effort from Tony Liu. What a great event it has been and a strong field with amazing matches and a show of strong character and fighting spirit from all the competitors!  

Title Defence Led by Defence

Auckland's big title defence in the Women's Team Event at the NZ Senior Table Tennis Championships was led by the experienced defensive force of Jung Mi Kim who soared through the event undefeated. The team of Jung Mi Kim, Vicky Yang, Sara Hu and Sophie Shu contains 4 of the top 5 seeds for the women's individual events, a force to be reckoned with. 

Women's Team Event Medal Podium

With this strong combination it was two 7-0 wins over Canterbury 2 and Waikato in the group phase for Auckland and they advanced in first position from the pool. Waikato went through second with a 5-2 win over Canterbury 2 with the experience of Jessica Macaskill and Armindeep Singh proving to be the differentiating factor in their team matchup.

In the second pool Canterbury 1 started well with wins over Otago and Canterbury 3, 2012 NZ Champion Timea Tapai showing her international class in the matches, backed up by Mariam Seif and Angel Huang for the home side. Otago moved swiftly to dispatch Canterbury 3 with Yvonne Fogarty and Deb King showing they still have it and the young and rising Emma Paton proving her skill in the team match.

Canterbury 1's trip to the final unwound when their match order gave Manawatu an advantage. Catherine Zhou and Natalie Paterson, both strong contenders in the women's event led the team with Tayla Nesbitt from Nelson joining as a draft. While Tayla faced the tough and talented Timea and experienced some heavy backspin play, Cath and Natalie moved quickly to take advantage of their opportunity. The match extended to 7 matches but the Manawatu trio proved they had what it took to take the top spot in the pool and won the encounter 4-3.

The loss meant that Canterbury would play Auckland in their crossover match, a great challenge. While Mariam got the team off to a good start with a 3-2 win against Sophie Shu, the big result was yet to come. A match which slipped under the radar as spectators had their attention turned was the 5 set battle between the defensive giants, Jung Mi Kim and Timea Tapai. While the rallies extended and patience was tested, the 5th set was one thing which failed to extend. Jung Mi took a colossal lead in the final set and showed her true ability to stay calm and pick the right balls to attack on. The win was a crucial one for Auckland, with Vicky Yang following up with a win, the doubles being fought back from 2-0 down to add another point and while Sophie Shu fell to Timea, the Auckland team still pulled through early to win in 6 matches.

Manawatu meanwhile were dominant as ever against Waikato. Their 6-1 win a true display of determination as they overcame their opponents and continued their road to the finals. While Jess, Armindeep and Barbara fought hard, their finals battle came to an end.

Vicky Yang in the Auckland Team
Image courtesy of Murray Finch

Much like the men's final there were high hopes for Manawatu as they headed into their last matchup. Cath Zhou started out against Vicky Yang and while their were flashes of brilliance and well placed attacking balls from Cath it was Vicky, the 2010 National Champion who overcame her opponent to start Auckland off. Tayla again had to face a high level defensive player, she continued to put up a great fight and hit some incredible shots during the match, but Jung Mi gracefully chopped and attacked her way to a 3-0 win. Sara Hu came in next against Natalie. While Natalie showed the fighting form she always does, Sara took the lead and was slightly more dominant in the rallies and with point structure, using her serves to her advantage. Sara's win brought the lead to 3-0 and the pressure was all on the doubles pairing of Cath and Nat to stay in contention. 

Again a great fight by the Manawatu pair who led the match against Jung Mi and Vicky, but the Auckland pair were eager as ever to finish their opponents and take gold and they did just that. A 4-0 win for Auckland, joining the Auckland men's in taking the top spot on the podium and successfully defending their team title! Canterbury redeemed their earlier loss by taking the bronze medal position, though it took them all 7 matches with Waikato making a strong case for podium contention!

Home Side Falls to Defending Champions

The team events concluded today at the NZ Senior Table Tennis Championships with an impressive display of dominance from the defending team champions, Auckland. Two days of hard competition and intense matches saw the emergence of the gold medallists, beginning with the grading stages. Waikato and Waitemata were both victorious in their encounters in 4 straight matches while Otago 2 took theirs 4-1. Waikato headed up into A grade, Waitemata into B and Otago 2 into C grade while their oppositions took the lower road into the respective grades below.

Men's Team Event Podium

The first day in the A grade saw upsets all round, spectacular matches and great team spirit. Auckland 1 and Canterbury 1 were the dominant forces in their round robin stages, though North Harbour pressed their position by stretching the top Auckland team to a full 7 matches with Victor Pollett stepping up to take out Kevin Wu and Brad Chen leading the team as usual. North Harbour's 4-3 win over Otago and 7-0 win over Canterbury 2 helped them steal the 2nd spot going to the crossover. Victor Pollett picked up some top wins over Ben Duffy and Jesper Villadsen against Otago while Bryn Lindsay was successful in defeating Simon Fenwick and Pavel Daněk in the second match.

In the meantime on the other side of the group draw, Manawatu were making all the noise. Narrowly scraping a 4-3 win over Waikato in the absence of Tim Seaholme, they moved swiftly to put Auckland 2 back into 3rd place with Mike Tate-Davis claiming the crucial match in the 5th against Aaron Gong. Seaholme and Ball both posted top wins against Malcolm Darroch on the first day of play and continued to play strongly throughout the draw.

Otago posted two 4-3 losses with some nailbiting matches. Mirek Janča was strong in leading the team but teammates just missed out on some key wins causing some upsetting results which placed Otago 4th in their group pool. With a 4-2 loss to Auckland 2, Otago rescued themselves in their last match with a 4-2 win over Waikato to finish in 7th place of the 8 teams.

Manawatu battled hard to overcome North Harbour in their last match for the bronze medal position. With Matthew Ball and Tim Seaholme both playing well to beat Victor Pollett and Jerry Zhang saving the Palmerston North crowd's day at 3-3 with a 5th set win over Bryn Lindsay. A great result for Manawatu who upset the odds to come through into the top 4 teams and then clench a podium position. 

Perhaps two of the most incredible matches of the competition so far had been those between Oliver Scarlett and Ivo Mikulec and also between Yi-Sien Lin and Brad Chen. Ollie and Ivo had some incredible rallies and displayed awesome table tennis for spectators. With a match point at the end of the 5th set, a short dropping netball by Ollie was not going to save him, Ivo sweeping in to pick the ball up round the net and taking the point followed by two more. An immense display of commitment and a high level of table tennis from both players. Similarly Yi-Sien Lin performed incredibly to win in straight sets against 2005 national champion Brad Chen. The match saw Lin and Chen in big counterloop rallies where Yi-Sien really raised his game.

Josh Alexandre picked up a pivotal win over
Jong Eub Han, 3-1.

The Men's Team Final saw Canterbury and Auckland go head to head. Canterbury hosted a team which held a strong chance and a strong hope from the locals to take out the title. Lead by Jong Eub Han, the team also consisting of Yi-Sien Lin, Ivo Mikulec and Malcolm Darroch were hot contenders. Auckland, the defending champions, Teng Teng Liu, John Cordue, Josh Alexandre and Kevin Wu.

Teng Teng Liu was first out on the table for Auckland, showing strong form against Ivo. The big hitter left no ball unscathed and despite the Czech player's best efforts it was Auckland who took the first match 3-0. Whether John Cordue could make it 2 was an interesting question. Yi-Sien had played well to beat Brad Chen but John soon proved his level of consistency in both close table and distance rallies. While Yi-Sien continued to press the attack it was John who continued to return ball after ball and force error on his opponent, 3-0 and Auckland led by 2 matches. 

The pressure was on Han to bring his team back into the game, but there was just one problem, Josh Alexandre. Josh played possibly another of the best matches of the team event, if not THE best. With a keen eye for reading Han's serve and swift attacking on both wings, he took advantage of every loose ball played. With a few costly errors at vital moments of sets, Han fell behind by 2 sets. As hard as he fought to reclaim momentum in the match it was Josh who followed up on a fantastic start to win 3-1 and put Auckland in a very comfortable position with just one more match required to take the shield and victory.

The doubles proved to be the answer that Auckland needed. Kevin Wu subbed in to play with Tony Liu and the pair gave their best to finish the team match off. While Yi-Sien and Ivo did their best to hold on, the match was lost in the final set by the slimmest of margins, 11-9. The result, disappointing for Canterbury, another strong triumph for Auckland who continue their dominance in the team events for another year.