World University Games 2015
The 2015 Universiade is being held in Gwangju, Korea. The NZ teams is:
Male: Daniel Lowe, Joanathan Wang, Roger Rao, Zhiyang Cheng
Coach - Jong Eub Han
Female: Natalie Paterson, Hweiching Lim, Julia Wu:
Coach - Tim Seaholme.
Manager (and photographer): Murray Finch.
Murray has posted a number of articles and great photos on facebook
Final Day Report (Day 7)
New Zealand's participation in the table tennis at the 2015 Universiade finished today with Jonathon Wang losing his first round knock-out match to Andrew Gambina of Malta - 9-11, 7-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6, 9-11. The match was not without controversy, with Jonathon leading 8-6 in the deciding 7th game Gambina called a time-out. After the time-out the umpires incorrectly gave the service to Gambina who subsequently won two points and rested the initiative against an unsure and confused Jonathon. Overall, Jonathon struggled against Gambina's service and strong backhand in open rallies but created enough chances in a very exciting match for the outcome to be in doubt until the last point.
After the match the bulk of the team returned to the Village for Mr Han to be presented with his pendant by Chef de Mission, Chris Arthur. Chris then sat in on the team debrief and commented positively on the contribution the table tennis team made to the wider NZ Team at the event.
Then the team returned to the table tennis to watch the quarter-finals and were treated to some simple brilliant table tennis especially from top seed Jeong Young Sik - the top seed and, as a South Korean, crowd favourite, and Chinese defender Liu Yi - the defending champion. In a match of the highest order that kept a chanting crowd on the edge of it's seat throughout with long rallies and astonishing defence, Liu came out the victor 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 13-11. The point of the match was when Seong led 10-9 in the 7th game - match point - when after a challenging rally Liu fearlessly counter-looped the ball around the net!!
From the table tennis, Mr Han took the team to a traditional Korean restaurant where we enjoyed such new experiences as live octopus, raw paua, raw sweet potatoes, steamed bone marrow, and many more.....
It has to be said that the chances of us ever walking into this restaurant off the street were nil! It was down an alley-way and then down a pathway and into a rather run down building. But on the recommendation of Mr Han and local celebrity, Kim Taek Soo, we were treated to a memorable experience.
9th July 2015
The singles events kicked off at the table tennis today with all of the New Zealand athletes, except men's number 1 Roger Rao, in action. The day started with the women's groups, there are 12 groups mostly of 4 players with two to qualify but the main draw. Natalie and Julia were first up with Polish (Klaudia Kusinska) and Chinese (Zheng Sichang) opponents respectively. Both players were soundly beaten, Julia giving a solid account of herself against a very strong opponent while Natalie struggled to find her game right throughout the match. Hweiching was next to play against a highly regarded Czech, Tamara Tomanova. From the beginning of the match is was clear that Tomanova was not at all comfortable with Hweiching's style and she quickly developed a healthy lead. Towards the end of the first game Hweiching lost her match focus and with both the first and second games under the weight of a high error rate. The same pattern applied at the beginning of the 3rd as Tomanova marched to an inevitable victory before Hweiching found her 'mojo' again, applied pressure and came right back into the game. Having save one match point at 8-10 the next proved too much but only after a rally of well over 30 shots as she tried everything to take the game to 10-10.
The top seed in her group, Russian Elizaveta Khlyzova, who proved too good for an improving Julia in her second group match. Hweiching had an easy win in her second match against Pem Chodden of Bhutan and faces Sri Lankan Samarage Jayasundara in her final group match tomorrow to decide the second qualifier for the main draw.
In the men, there are 45 groups of mostly 3 players with one from each group qualifying for the main draw. Jonathon won his first match against Kalid Al Siyadi of Oman, Daniel was beaten in straight games by Edwin Hung of Hong Kong while Zhiyang went down in a massive battle to Brian Chen of the USA. Zhiyang will feel he l a chance slip as he dominated his opponent for significant periods during the match but was a little too passive at pivotal times during, eventually losing 2-3.
All players will be involved in group play tomorrow with Hweiching, Natalie, Jonathon and Roger all having excellent chances of progressing to the main draw.
The individual events started today with the mixed doubles getting underway this morning. New Zealand was represented by two pairs, Roger Rao and Natalie Paterson and Jonathon Wang and Julia Wu. Roger and Natalie drew the Sri Lankan pair Ginige and Weerako first up and dispatched them with a ruthless efficiency that was surprising for a scratch pairing. They ran into a brick wall in the second round however when they met the top seeds and home town favourites, Jeong and Yang of Korea. Yang is a mixed doubles world champion and Jeong won the men's singles at the recent Korean Open. While without a realistic chance of winning the match, Roger and Natalie produced a strong performance and were able to create some pressure on their opponents at times. Jonathan and Julia drew the Mongolian combination of Ganbut and Enkhbat. They got off to a flying start winning the first two games, however the Mongolians showed considerable fight and were able to pressure Julia's service return to such an extent that they won the match in 5 close games.
In the men's doubles Jonathon was paired with Zhiyang Cheng and they won their first match by default when their opponents failed to turn up. In the second round they played Libene and Siispoo of Estonia. After winning the first and having a lead in the second they went down in 4 close games. Daniel Lowe partnered Roger to a first round win against Tawil and Mouss from Lebanon. In the second round they came up against Hong Kong China and in a match that fluctuated a lot - NZ was up 5-1 in the first game only to lose 6-11 and then win the second relatively comfortably - the Kiwi combination seemed to lose confidence at critical times and lost in 4 games.
Natalie and Julia drew a strong Czech pairing of Tomanova and Mikul in the first round and in a good performance (the best from Julia at the event to date) they were just enough off the pace to make an upset unlikely, losing 0-3.
The teams quarterfinals start this evening with most interest being in the men's match between Korea and second seeds Japan - many consider this a worthy final between 2 very strong teams - China would have something to say about that!! Tomorrow the group play starts for both the men's and women's singles. All NZ players will be competing. The semi-finals of the teams events will be held tomorrow evening.
DAY 1
The table tennis competition got underway at the 2015 Universiade in Gwangju today. The New Zealand teams had a busy day competing in 4 matches - two for the women and two for the men. The women were first up with a match against the top seeds in the group and 4 seeds overall, the Russian Federation. First up for NZ was Hweiching Lim against Russian number 1, Yana Noskova, ranked 80 in the World. In her second Universiade Hweiching played is a much improved player since Kazan and with a great deal of assurance against a world class player providing her with strong competition. Hweiching's defensive style seemed to trouble he Russian but the difference in skill and experience meant the result was never in doubt. This set the tone for the contest with both Natalie Paterson and Julia Wu losing 0-3 to superior Russian opponents.
Next up were the men playing Sweden. NZ number one, Roger Rao, was first up against Swedish player Harald Andersson (198 in the world) and the first game was over before you could blink. Not only was the speed of play quick but the scoreline one-sided in favour of the Swede. Roger was far more competitive in the second game, leading 9-7 before Andersson applied extra pressure and played some very powerful shots to win the last 4 points consecutively. The third game was a continuation with Roger playing well but simply being out-gunned by a more powerful opponent. Jonathon Wang was next to play against a very awkward opponent who had a range of weapons, including a combination bat (long pimples) defence, heavily spun serves and very strong forehand and backhand topspin attack from unusual angles. Jonathon adapted as best he could and challenged the Swede without ever looking like winning a game. Zhiyang Cheng won a close duel with Daniel Lowe to be selected in the 3rd spot for this match and looked likely at times against a clearly very nervous Swedish opponent. However, after competing from an attacking position most of the match, when Zhiyang lost a small advantage he had gained in the middle of the third game he drifted back to his preferred back from the table defensive position allowing his opponent to gain confidence and win the match easily.
Both teams played Mongolia in the evening session with the women first up. While the women will be disappointed with the final outcome, a 1-3 loss, they have every reason to be proud of the effort and performance. All players demonstrated a major step up from the morning match with Natalie winning one match (advantage in the 4th) and losing one match (advantage in the 5th) while Hweiching lost her match 2-3 and Julia 1-3. The contest was long and exciting and draining for all concerned. The team were well supported by NZ team management and responded by delivering an excellent contest for them.
The men's match was well over an hour late starting as they followed the women on table 12. The trend for long matches continued on the table with the men taking the contest right to the wire before triumphing 3-2. The match didn't start well with NZ no. 1 Roger Rao losing his first match. Jonathon Wang stepped up for the second match which turned out to be a seesaw contest. Jonathon led all the way but the Mongolian refused to give up and kept fighting back into the match. At 2 games to 1 in front and up 5-0 in the 4th Jonathon looked to have it won, however the Mongolian coach called a timeout and the match turned when play resumed. Jonathon struggled for the remainder of the match, losing the 4th 9-11 and then facing 2 match points in the deciding game at 8-10. With some brilliant play, topped off with a lucky edge at match point, Jonathon won the next 4 points and the match. Daniel Lowe competed well with the Mongolian number 3, having some chances to take the initiative before falling a little short in a 1-3 loss. Down 1-2 and needing to win the last 2 matches, Roger stepped up and comfortably accounted for his opponent 3-1 before Jonathon again strode into the spotlight to close out the contest with a 3-1 win against the Mongolian no. 1.
The win keeps the NZ men alive in the competition. With two from each group going through to the knock-out, and Sweden already having qualified from their group, it is sudden death in the match with Hong Kong China tomorrow at mid-day.