Toriola And Oshonaike Will Look For Glory At 2016 Nigeria Open

The 2016 Nigeria Open will come to end on Sunday. In the men's event Segun Toriola is the only Nigerian player in competition. He will have to fight against Finland's Benedek Olah in semifinals. Nigeria also has a representative in the women's singles. Olufunke Oshonaike also booked a place in the penultimate stage.
Semifinalists of the 2016 Nigeria Open were decided. In men's singles Segun Toriola reached semifinals after beating Slovakia's Thomas Keinath by 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 6-11 and 14-12 in quaterfinals. In semifinals Toriola will meet Finland's Benedek Olah who beat Nigeria's Bode Abiodun by 12-10, 9-11, 8-11, 5-1, 11-5, 11-9 and 11-5.

In the second semifinals Zhao Tianming[[ of Portugal will face [[Khalid Assar of Egypt. To book a place in semifinals Zhao overcame Mexico's Salvador Uribe by 8-11, 2-11, 11-7, 16-14, 13-11 and 11-3. Assar stood victorious over his compatriot El-Sayed Lashin by 11-6, 11-2, 11-6 and 11-5 in quarterfinals.

In women's singles Olufunke Oshonaike is the only Nigerian player in competition. She defeated Russia's Anna Rossikjina by 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 and 11-7.  Oshonaike will face Szandra Pergel of Hungary in semifinals. The Hungarian player emerged successfully over Cameroon's Sarah Hanffou in quarterfinals.

In the second semifinals Irina Ciobanu of Romania will play against Portugal's Shao Jieni. In quarterfinals Ciobanu overcame Russia's Olga Kulikova by 10-12, 11-6, 11-3, 8-11, 13-11, 6-11 and 11-6. To reach semifinals, Shao Jieni defeated Nigeria's Offiong Edem by 9-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-7 and 11-9.  

Liu Shiwen Denied With The Olympic Singles Qualification

The Chinese Team always have that happy trouble in selecting players for any big competition. Now, for the Olympic Games, the Chinese Team is yet to finalise the roles of their players, building some anticipation from their fans. Luckily, the ITTF was able to give a clearer picture on the lineup of the strongest team in the world. 
Sina Sports. Liu Shiwen is the highest ranking player in the women’s division but unfortunately, she was denied with the Olympic Singles qualification. 

The Chinese Team recently released their lineup for the Olympic Games. In their announcement, they indicated Fan Zhendong and Zhu Yuling to be the P-Card holders. This means that the Chinese Team has denied the qualification of the 19-year old Fan Zhendong for the Olympic Singles. 

It was reported that the ITTF has already sent the invitation to Fan Zhendong and Liu Shiwen to play in the Olympic Singles, basing from the latest world rankings. Both of the players are the highest ranking players aside from the already qualified Ma Long and Li Xiaoxia. 

Interestingly, because of a recent post of the ITTF in their Weibo account, a clearer picture of the women’s lineup in the Olympic Singles was drawn. 

“Liu Shiwen’s qualification for the (Olympic) Singles is denied by the Chinese Team. According to the lineup that was recently announced by the Chinese Team, not surprisingly, Li Xiaoxia will work together with Ding Ning in the Singles.” 

Liu Shiwen is the highest ranking player in the women’s division and naturally, she got the invitation to play in Olympic Singles. Unfortunately, the Chinese Team denied the invitation, which could mean that Liu Shiwen will be their third person, who would be playing in the Team competition.  

The Chinese Team is expected to report their Olympic Singles lineup before May 30.

Berlin Eastside Is The 2015-16 Bundesliga's Champion

Berlin Eastside defended the Bundesliga's title. The team led by Shan Xiaona remained unbeaten during the whole season and was crowned champion of the season 2015-16. SV DJK Kolbermoor got the second place with only two defeats. Berlin Eastside closed another successful 2015-16 season a Bundesliga's champion. The team led by Shan Xiaona remained unbeaten during the whole season and claimed the third national title.   

The team made up of Shan Xiaona, Petrissa Solja, Georgina Pota, Ui Hamamoto and Miyu Kato stood victorious over LTTV Leutzscher Füchse 1990. TuS Bad Driburg, TTG Bingen/Münster-Sarmsh, SV DJK Kolbermoor, TSV Schwabhausen, TV Busenbach, TTV Hoveholf, SV Böblingen and TUSEM Essen.   The second place went to SV DJK Kolbermoor, made up of Sabine Winter, Kristin Silbereisen, Wenling Tan-Monfardini and Bernadett Balint. Kolbermoor only faced defeat against the champion Berlin Eastside.  

 Tus Bad Driburg got the third place in the league. Nina Mittelham, Shi Qi, Sarah de Nutte, Katharina Mikailova and Elena Waggermayer posted six defeats and a tie.

Zhang Jike has achieved a lot of impressive achievements in his career and it is because of an opportunity that was given by Wang Hao

All players have their weak moments in their respective careers and for Wang Hao, it was in 2010 when he gave up his seat in the finals against Germany in the World Championships. This opportunity was given to Zhang Jike and the latter didn’t waste such important opportunity. Because of that, Zhang Jike made his way into the top and has achieved new height in his career.  Sina Sports. Zhang Jike has achieved a lot of impressive achievements in his career and it is because of an opportunity that was given by Wang Hao.   

Zhang Jike is considered to be one of the most successful players in the men’s table tennis, after all, he has won the Olympic Games, the World Championships, and the World Cup. However, before all these success, Zhang Jike struggled to have even just one opportunity. Thanks to Wang Hao.   In 2010, Zhang Jike was just starting to make his presence felt in the men’s table tennis after he was sanctioned several times by the coaching staff. Also at this year, Wang Hao was experiencing problems in his career.  

 In the World Championships, Wang Hao gave up his seat in the lineup of the Chinese Team for the finals against Germany. At the last minute, the opportunity to play was given to Zhang Jike and fortunately for him, he did not waste it.

Zhang Jike offered a point to the Chinese Team after winning over Christian Suss in the third match. This victory eventually gave way to more opportunities and the rest is history. 

Now, Zhang Jike is the fastest player to complete the Grand Slam and is now one competition away to achieve a second round of Grand Slam. Opportunities are everywhere, it just depends on Zhang Jike how he will seize those opportunities to his advantage. 

Fan Zhendong Needs To Wait Until 2020

Looking at the competitions in recent years, Fan Zhendong has definitely showed himself in the forefront of the men’s division. Despite his young age, he proved that he can compete with the much experienced players in the arena. Therefore, he rose in the world ranking and is now qualified to play in the biggest competition, the Olympic Games.  Sina Sports. The 19-year old Fan Zhendong has been performing very steadily making him a good contender for the Olympic Games. But it seems that he will have to wait until 2020.    

Basing from the latest world rankings, Fan Zhendong ranks second, putting himself in a solid position within the Chinese Team. Aside from that, the young player also placed his one foot in the Olympic Games.   Just recently, it was reported that Fan Zhendong has already received an invitation from the ITTF to participate in the Rio Olympics. This has been the dream of the 19-year old player. Aside from that, Timo Boll has also expressed that Fan Zhendong should be the second player of the Chinese Team in the Olympic Singles.  

 With hard work, determination and focus, Fan Zhendong has earned all the trust from the coaches and also earned his position in the world rankings. In the Asian Olympic Qualifier, he reached the finals and fought against Ma Long. He is also very stable recently.   

 This was acknowledged by the head coach Liu Guoliang however, when it comes to the Olympic Games, the head coach has some reservations.   “Through exposures and experiences, Fan Zhendong now possesses a strong impact. In 2020, he should be even more matured,” Liu Guoliang said.   Such line somehow says that Fan Zhendong might just have to wait for 2020. That will be his year, his time to shine. 

China Threatened By New Players From Europe

The Chinese Team of course wants to retain their pride in the Olympic Games and with that, they study their opponents. As expected, the reigning champions still considers Germany as their main rivals. However, aside from them, Liu Guoliang admitted that they also need to be very careful with the new players from European countries as they can also be threatening.  Tencent Sports. As the defending champions, the Chinese Team has assessed their possible opponents and Liu Guoliang admits threat from new players of the European countries.  

 For several years now, the main opponent of the Chinese 
Team is still the German Team who has Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov in their squad. These two players are considered to be the top enemies of the Chinese players. They have the unique features, strength and the capacity to challenge the Chinese Team.   

However, players from Japan, South Korea and Chinese Taipei definitely can’t be taken for granted. Focusing on Japan, this team has already been preparing their players for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics so the investment is really big.   

Aside from those common opponents, the Chinese Team cited a new set of threats and these are coming from European Teams like France, Russia, England, Portugal and others. The threat is primarily because they are not yet very familiar with them.  

 “When facing rookies, one must be especially careful to avoid any upsets in the first two rounds. In the last Olympic Games, Timo Boll wasn’t able to face the Chinese players because he was eliminated early in the competition. Therefore, I warn my players never to look high. They must watch out who is in front of the table because whoever that is, he is their main opponent.” Liu Guoliang said.