Korean Powerhouse set to Make Lasting Impressions

So the entry is finally confirmed, retired Korean National Team member Oh Sang Eun is set to top the seedings at this year's New Zealand Senior Table Tennis Championships in Christchurch, providing a spectacle not often seen in this quiet corner of the world. Oh Sang Eun an outstanding 1.88 metres and internationally renowned for his incredible countering game close to the table was a member of the Korean National Team for 20 years and peaked at an ITTF World Ranking of 5th. While Oh Sang Eun never won a major international event, he featured in the Beijing quarterfinals 2008, the 2005 WTTC semifinals and was 4th at the 2009 World Cup, on top of this he won 7 ITTF Pro Tour Events between 2005 and 2012.

Oh Sang Eun
Image Courtesy of ITTF

While still remaining in the top 50 players in the world (currently early 30s), Oh also plays in the Polish League. Earlier in the year he was victorious at the Australian Senior Open Championships and now the test is upon New Zealand to see if there are any with the skill and determination to challenge this world class player. Oh will combine in the men's doubles with NZ Ranked 1, Phillip Xiao and in the mixed doubles it will be up to Angel Huang from Canterbury to see if she can keep up with the stalwart and head for gold.

An exciting opportunity to see a true world class player and also an immense challenge to see if any can stop him from clinching gold. The hot contenders will be Teng Teng Liu, the defending champion, Phillip Xiao, a national finalist and North Island Champion and other top players in the top 10 the likes of Yi-Sien Lin and John Cordue. Some new fresh contenders will make the field more interesting also, 3 players from the Czech Republic who made a big impression at the South Island Championships this year will compete in the teams and individuals, while Otago also hosts a talented Danish player.

More news to come as we gear up for the big event and team draws and seeds are announced, sit tight!

Watch Oh Sang Eun decimate Wang Hao 4-0 in 2008

Ping Pong Runway #3: The Dodean Sisters

It's true, sisters have a strong image in any sport and in table tennis it's no different. The Dodean sisters, Daniela and Andreea from Romania are part of a family of table tennis, with 2 brothers in the sport also. While Daniela is most notable for her international performances, having been ranked 19th in the world in 2010 and playing in the Italian and Austrian league's top divisions, sister Andreea was also a strong contender in the 2nd league in Germany. I had the unique chance to ask them both a little bit about the image of women's table tennis!

Andreea (left) and Daniela (right) Dodean

Daniela left home at the age of 10 and began training at the Olympic Centre, she has come a long way since then and recently married Portugese National Team member Joao Monteiro. Daniela is based at the Schlager Academy in Schwechat, Austria where she competes for SVS Strock. Sponsored by Butterfly since just 13 years of age, the 25 year old is still one of Europe's hot contenders in any competition.

Butterfly Sponsored Daniela Dodean
Image Courtesy of ITTF

So down to business. The sisters were unanimous, as with most females in the sport today that skirts are definitely the future of women's table tennis. Andreea said they were more comfortable and prettier, while Daniela said she definitely preferred to wear a skirt. Andreea said perhaps given time she could also wear a dress while playing but for now the skirt was definitely more comfortable to play in.

The sisters both agree that image is important for the growth of the sport. "People are coming to watch table tennis will enjoy seeing nice looking girls also" Daniela says, while she also emphasises that it's important for the male players to look presentable too for spectators and TV.

Romstal Romania Calendar

Daniela was approached via the ITTF earlier this year by Maxim, an international magazine for men where she featured in a brief interview. She is also involved in the Romstal Calendar shoot, the national sponsor of the Romanian team produce a calendar once a year to help raise funds for the athletes. Above is this year's calendar whilst Daniela features in a more classy look in the previous calendar.

Daniela on the right in the Romstal Calendar

Growing up with a family of table tennis players is obviously something very special though Daniela admits that it was hard as both herself and brother Adrian trained in the centres from a young age, she was clearly grateful to have him there though to look after her. Now Daniela enters a new phase of her life with her new husband, of course I wish them the best of happiness they are both amazing players and wonderful people. You can see my interview with Joao on my blog also :)

Andreea at the Romanian National Championships

So as we conclude another chapter in the mini series of Ping Pong Runway, it is becoming clear that there is a strong belief that the image of women's table tennis is crucial for the sport's growth and that skirts are the way to go! Thank you so much to Daniela and Andreea for helping coordinate with me to do this it was my pleasure.

Ping Pong Runway #2: Margarita Pesotska

So after a great first part with Bernadette Szocs from Romania I decided to continue in this mini series of exploring the image of female table tennis players and went to catch up with my good friend Margarita Pesotska from Ukraine. Margarita was a bronze medallist at the 2011 European Championships and like Szocs was twice the European Youth Champion and once European Cadet Champion.

Margarita Pesotska Photoshoot

So I spoke with Margarita a little about the image of women's table tennis. Like most female players she is a believer in female's looking good not just in table tennis but in life also and that table tennis is a beautiful game so why shouldn't it have beautiful players! The young player from Ukraine currently plays in the Polish league and is sponsored by Tibhar.

Margarita Pesotska
Tibhar

While Pesotska agrees that skirts are more feminine and are better than shorts, she is not so sure about the comfort and convenience of dresses in our fast paced sport and admits it's more unusual to see table tennis players in dresses.

Pesotska in Action

Margarita has regularly frequented the top 50 women's rankings on the ITTF list over the past few years and is one of Europe's stronger players with a two winged attacking game. She has a great fighting spirit and never gives up in a match!

Margarita Pesotska Swimming

Pesotska has done a couple of photoshoots, she certainly knows how to look great both on and off the table. She isn't just a pretty face and a great table tennis player though, the young athlete also holds 2 degrees in Sport and Literature and is currently completing a Masters degree, her 5th year of University study.

Margarita Pesotska Serves

So make sure you keep an eye out for this big contender at the European Championships as she aims to repeat her medal winning performance of 2011. Thank you Margarita and good luck! :D

Ping Pong Runway #1: Bernadette Szocs

While many individuals complain that table tennis is not tailored to spectators and that female players should make more of an effort to improve the image of the sport, I thought I would take an opportunity to speak to some players and see what they thought and to show you all that there are certainly players out there making an effort to look great both on and off the table. The first person I wanted to speak to was Bernadette Szocs from Romania, a name which many of you will know of course!

Bernadette Szocs sponsored by Tibhar
Image Courtesy of Tibhar

The Tibhar sponsored player, just 18 years old is one of Europe's most successful young players of this generation having won the European Cadet Challenge in 2010 and the European Youth Championships the two years following. While Bernadette states that she's not too worried how she looks out on the table, she admits she prefers to look good and she thinks that perhaps for the supporters there is some importance in our female players looking attractive. We decided to go through and pick a few of her favourite photos for this post.

Bernadette Szocs
Photo Courtesy of Tibhar

We have seen Bernadette appearing in various photoshoots over the years and she has certainly created an image for herself. With strong contrast her gentle and young appearance leaves us wide open for surprise to see her fiery competitive nature out on the table and of course her unforgettable moments of celebration. The young Romanian currently resides in Bremen, Germany where she trains along with brother Hunor Szocs though she represents Lille in the French League for her competitive matches.

Sophisticated Look: Bernadette Szocs

As we see more photoshoots from Bernie she is developing quite a style both on and off the table with some more sophisticated shots like the one above. We decided this was one of the best photos. Szocs admits that a lot of people have prompted her to pursue modelling but it seems she is still very much hungry for table tennis still and thinks that she isn't tall enough to be a model in this era of the business. One thing is for sure, over the last few years we have seen her photo albums develop from juvenile table tennis photo snaps to more sophisticated styles, looks and locations with more ideas behind each photo.

Professional Look: Bernadette Szocs

So as time passes on no doubt we will see more photoshoot material from Bernadette, she is certainly crossing the line to some degree into the world of modelling and creates a great image for her fans and for the sport. Her focus now is on the European Championships, I'm sure I will have more questions for her again very soon. Thank you again Bernie!

Bernadette Szocs

The Inside on SPiN New York

As some of you may know I recently had the opportunity to visit SPiN New York, a place I have always wanted to visit since it opened and the franchise began. Well, I went to SPiN and was lucky enough to meet all 3 of the co-owners while I was there. In the good company of the club host, Wally Green, I headed down on a Friday night with some other members of the World Hopes Team contingent. The kids were in good hands playing the league night at the table tennis club so we had the opportunity to check out this great venue.

The Holy Grail of Modern Table Tennis
SPiN New York

So I entered the club and it really is quite surreal, it takes a while to adjust to the buzz and atmosphere of a nightclub combined with table tennis. The place looks great, there are plenty of tables and plenty of players to use them! I was entered in the Dirty Dozen which is a 2 man team competition which offers $500USD in prize money, my partner Daniel was a great dude and really helped my confidence as I struggled to adjust to the unique conditions! The music was great, the DJ in house was actually Susan Sarandon's son too!

Once my head got over the unfamiliar lighting and pumping music I was ready to go. I also had the pleasure of meeting another one of my famed interviewees, the youngest US National Champion Michael Landers who won the prestigious title at 15 years old. A very down to earth young man and really cool to watch him play at SPiN. Me and my handy teammate Daniel were lucky enough to make the finals and pick up a slick $100US between us, a little bit more and $400 would have been ours (next time I think).

SPiN NY Host Wally Green

Of course the question on all of your minds, yes I had the fantastic opportunity to meet Hollywood actress and co-owner, Susan Sarandon. She was very approachable and I had the opportunity to sit and speak with her for a while. It's clear that she is a big fan of table tennis and was quite content to sit and watch the games unfolding as the night went on. It was a great pleasure to meet her and hopefully I may have the chance again in the future. I also caught up with Franck Raharinosy and Jonathan Bricklin the other two co-owners and it was great to see Franck out competing in the Dirty Dozen and playing some pretty fly shots too.

Stiga Tables at SPiN New York

So I would recommend to you all that if you are in the neighbourhood of SPiN New York or any other SPiN club around the US (or in Dubai), that you go at least once! Once you have experienced the vibe I'm sure you will be tempted to return again, just as I plan to! Thanks to Wally Green for organising a great night for us and for being a super host.

Me (Matt Hetherington) and Susan Sarandon at SPiN New York