2004 Volkswagen Open (China) One month ago in the Galatsi Olympic Stadium in Athens, she excelled all expectations and reached the final of the Women-s Singles event, eventually losing to China-s ZHANG Yining; one month later in Changchun at the Volkswagen Open, it was back down to earth for North Korea-s KIM Hyang Mi. She exited the tournament on her visit to the table being beaten in five games by South Korea-s MOON Hyun Jung in the opening round of the Women-s Singles. Click here to read more
A Lesson
JANG Hyon Ae, given a severe lesson by the Olympic champion 2004 Volkswagen Open (China) JANG Hyon Ae from North Korea is only fourteen years old, she has proved herself to be a fine player at the Volkswagen Open in Changchun; in the Women-s Singles Qualification group matches she beat Germany-s Kristin SILBEREISEN to qualify for the main event whilst in the Under 21 Women-s Singles she accounted for KO So Mi of South Korea and Gaby ROHR of Germany, losing only to the more experienced Reiko HIURA of Japan. Click here to read more
Europe-promoting elite pathways and understanding between nations
Iran Juniors at the Eurokids Camp 2004 Development In 2001, Europe Table Tennis Union in conjunction with the ITTF Development Program commenced an ambitious program to better co-ordinate and educate the talented juniors of Europe, with the view to regularly producing players competitive on the world level. Now well known across Europe, the Eurokids, Eurotalents and Eurochamps program of training camps and competition oppurtunities has been regularly positively influencing the careers of the new generation of Europeans. Click here to read more
Oh Brother!
Sixteen year old Taku TAKAKIWA in action in Changchun 2004 Volkswagen Open (China) Throughout the history of sport and table tennis is no exception, there have been brothers who have played at the highest levels; one immediately thinks of Jean-Michel SAIVE and his brother Philippe who have done so much over the last twenty-five years to raise the image of the sport in their native Belgium. Equally, in Japan Koji and Yoshi MATSUSHITA both represented their country internationally with the defender Koji ascending to greater heights than his brother Yoshi, a penhold grip style attacking player. Now, following in their footsteps, Japan has two brothers who show great promise for the future, Kenichi and Taku TAKAKIWA. Click here to read more
Better Not To Know
Gaby & Meike ROHR (right) en route to victory over KIM Jong & KIM Yun Mi 2004 Volkswagen Open (China) `It-s a good job you didn-t tell me-, twins Gaby and Meike ROHR beamed in unison. They had just recovered from a two games to nil deficit against the North Koreans KIM Jong and KIM Yun Mi to win 11-9 in the decisive fifth game in their Women-s Doubles Qualification encounter. The fact of which they were blissfully unaware was that at the World Championships in Osaka in 2001, KIM Yun Mi had reached the semi-final stage of the Women-s Singles before losing to LIN Ling, then of China. Click here to read more
A wonderful opportunity
Team Latin America 2004 Brazil Junior and Youth Open (BRA) With files from Vanessa Medeiros, CBTM With the 2nd Brazil Youth Open moving into the home stretch, it is time for a short evaluation using a strict Latin American perspective, as young talents from all over the continent today met up with the dynamic President of the Brazilian Table Tennis Federation Dr. Alaor Azevedo and the LATTU development officer Evelio Alvarez for a quick discussion. Click here to read more