| 22 August 2011 Finals day arrived at the table
tennis and we were hardly bursting out of our skins to take the 50 minute bus ride (again)
to watch China v China. Without the inter-country competition there is not the same
tension and excitement about matches when they reach this stage. But we made the effort
and found that many Chinese spectators had done the same and were expecting both Chinese
success and table tennis of the highest quality. They weren't to be disappointed on either
score.
All 4 women's semi finalists were Chinese. The first women's semi-final saw world number
19 (and top seed) Fan Ying grind down unranked compatriot Ma Yuefei 4-1. The second semi
was much closer with Rao Jingwen (world number 88) prevailing 4-2 over unranked Xiong
Xinyun.
In the final the top seed was unable to find an answer for the attacking consistency of
Rao. Fan won the first game but once Rao leveled it match by winning the second there was
a sense of inevitability about the outcome of the match - Chinese attackers are very
skilled against defensive players such as Fan.
The men's semi's opened with top seed and world number 9, Xu Xin of China playing Japans'
Kenji Matsudaira (world number 82). Matsudaira opened up the match with great skill and
fire and when he raced to a 3-1 lead a major upset was on the cards. But Xu maintained his
composure and weathered the storm, slowly working his way into the match. In the end Xu
won the last 3 games and the match easily, demonstrating the skill and class that have big
things expected of him.
In the other semi, an all Chinese affair Yan An (world ranked 161) dominated his more
highly rated (world no. 109) opponent Fang Bo 4-0 in a match which never rose to great
heights with Fang especially seemingly affected by nerves.
By the time the men's final was played the 13,000 seat stadium was almost full. The final
was a one-sided affair but that compensating the crowd for the lack of excitement was the
skill demonstrated by Xu during his win. Some of the points he manufactured and strokes he
played were pure magic. He demonstrated creativity that is no a common trait amongst the
extremely efficient Chinese team members and could be destined for great things. We,
together with the crowd, left happy we had made the effort to come.
20 August 2011
The New Zealand presence in the table tennis competition at the World University Games is
no longer. But we didn't go down without a fight!!  Jessica (pictured) played Jerusa Borges (Angola) in the first round of the
knockout and after establishing a 10-8 margin in the 6th game (leading 4-2) she let slip
her two match points to see the match go into the 7th. Jessica established a 4-0
lead and turned at 5-3 but the occasion seemed to get the better of her and she allowed
her opponent to squeeze past her 7-11 to take the match. Although devastated to let such
an opportunity slip, Jessica can take comfort from the fact that she created the winning
position - her backhand down the line off the push was devastating and used so judiciously
that I cannot recall it missing during the match.
 Jenny (pictured left) played Saida Kudusova of Kyrgyzstan in
a tough but winnable first round. In most 'un-Jenny like" manner (in this
tournament), Jenny jumped out to a 3-0 lead, dominating her opponent. But Kudusova was not
prepared to lie down easily and came back to win the 4th game and proceeded to lead all
the way through the 5th before Jenny pressurised her at the end of the game to win it and
take the match 4-1.
This result earned Jenny a date with 4th seed, Tang Liying of China. With little time to
prepare between matches, Jenny was slow to start, losing the first two games easily. But
in the 3rd Jenny found her range and with a combination of placement, power, clever shot
selection and a little good fortune she completely dominated her highly regarded opponent
11-5 to the absolute delight of the vocal NZ team supporting her. We waited for the
inevitable backlash from the Chinese player in the 4th game and were not disappointed as
she was soon up 5-0 before Jenny came back with more quality play to get to 5-8 and have
Tang under some pressure before losing 7-11. The final game was a one-sided affair, won
11-4 by the Chinese player as she closed the match out 4-1. Jenny can be proud of the fact
that she competed so well and took a game off a Chinese player. It was an excellent way to
end the tournament for her and the NZ Team.
The singles events continued until the semi-finalists were found - 3 of the 4 men in the
semis are Chinese with Japan's Kenji Matsudaira the only exception after an excellent 4-0
win over Shang Kun of China in the quarter-final.
The women's semi-finalists are all Chinese. Margaryta Pesotska (Ukraine) was a little
unlucky to lose a high quality match 7, 4, -10, -9, -9, -14 demonstrating a ferocious
backhand during the match.
The men's doubles was won easily by top seeds Xu Xin and Yan An of China beating the
Chinese Taipei pair of Chen Chienan and Wang Yitse 4-0 in a one-sided final. This was
understandable as Chen and Wang had had little time to recover from their thrilling win
over Fang Bo and Shang Kun in the semi-final. Chen and Wang came from 1-3 down to win the
match 11-9 in the 7th, the match taking just under an hour to complete and finishing only
a short time before the scheduled start of the final.
The women's final was an all Chinese affair with Ma Yuefei and Rao Jingwen beating their
compatriats, Tang Liying and Xiong Xinyun 4-0.
19 August 2011
The New Zealand men made their last appearances at the Table Tennis at the World
University Games today. Phillip and Ryan were beaten 3-0
by the Russian pair of Paykov and Shibaev. The NZ pair went down 2 games to nil and then
looked like staging yet another come back when they led 9-6 and 10-9 in the third but
there was to be no repeat of last nights heroics today.
In the singles Ryan (pictured right) played second seed Adrien Mattenet
of France ranked 28 in the world and performed with credit without having the skill
necessary to consistently put enough consistent pressure on his opponent. This was Ryan's
best singles performance.
Both women's pairs made their exits from the doubles today, losing to Czech pairs. After
winning their first round, Jenny and Natalie lost to the Haouili sisters, while Jessica
and Armindeep lost 0-3 to Smistikova and Matelova
Jenny and Jessica remain are our only surviving
participants, due to play the singles tomorrow morning.
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18 August 2011
Another long day at the table tennis but this time without having quite the success of
the previous couple of days. We didn't get off to the best start as both Myles
(0-3) and Phillip (2-3) were beaten in their final group matches putting
them in the same situation - hoping for one of the 11 'lucky losers' spots in the min
draw.
Phillip got off to a great start against Fu Enti (Chinese Taipei),
executing his tactics extremely well and winning the first two games. In the third, a
combination of a slight deviation from his tactics, and improvement in his opponents play
and a little luck saw the momentum with Fu taking the game comfortably. From this point
Phillip struggled to impose himself tactically and he made more mistakes than he did in
the first 2 games. The 5th game was close with Phillip having an early edge only for Fu to
match him. It was point for point until the score reached 7-7 when Fu won 3 consecutive
points and closed the match out with an 11-8 win.
The mixed doubles followed the singles, Ryan and Natalie
recovered from the loss of the first game to win against Pana and Jacalan of the
Philippines 11-5 in the 5th game. Phillip and Jenny lost
the first two games against Castro and Ikeizumi of Brazil before charging back to win the
next two. While this situation has now become standard practice for Jenny, it was less
familiar to Phillip and the NZ combination were comfortably beaten in the 5th game.
Ryan and Natalie did not fare so well in their second
round, losing 3-0 to the Russian pair of Shibaev and Voronova.
The last matches of the day were the men’s doubles involving both NZ combinations. Myles
and Aaron played strongly against the number one pair from Thailand
Wongsiri and Udomsilp. However their lack of experience showed at the end of each set when
they were inclined to make errors at critical times.
 Phillip and Ryan (pictured) played Wong and
Li from Hong Kong China. The first game was over in double quick time with a combination
of Kiwi errors and strong play by the Hong Kong pair producing a one-sided score-line. An
improvement in play and better control of the match tempo by the NZ pair closed the gap in
the second game but didn’t alter the result. Hong Kong got off to a flier in the 3rd
game forcing the coach to call a time-out at 1-4 in an attempt to break the momentum Hong
Kong had developed before it was too late. The move worked and at 6-6 it was the turn of
the Hong Kong coach to call her time-out. This was the signal for the crowd to get
involved. The stadium only had about 1,000 spectators at the time but they provided some
noisy support for the Hong Kong players. On returning to the court Phillip and Ryan held
their nerve to take the game 11-9. NZ dominated the 4th taking the match to a deciding 5th
game. Phillip and Ryan opened a mini break early, changing ends 5-3 up. They maintained
this break until Hong Kong staged a fight back at 9-6, drawing level at 9-9. NZ then
earned the first of 3 successive matches’ points, which Hong Kong negated with some
strong and at times spectacular play. When Hong Kong went up 13-12 there was a concern we
would be denied. This was set aside by a devastating backhand from Ryan. Phillip and Ryan
then played two tactically excellent points to close the match out and ensure that the
team had a spring in its step as it left the stadium and the prospect of the 50 minute bus
ride back to the Village seemed lot shorter.
The table tennis team were grateful to Team NZ Chef de Mission, Martin Macdonald for
making the 50 minute trek from the Village to support us today.
Tomorrow sees the beginning of the women's doubles as well as the continuation of the
men's and mixed doubles.
Footnote: Ryan was the only NZ male (of the 3 eligible - Phillip, Ryan
and Myles) to pick a 'lucky loser' entry to the main singles draw. He has drawn second
seed Mattenet (France) in the first round.
17 August 2011
The table tennis team built on its improvements over the last few days to have 2
players qualify for the main draw of the women’s singles. Jessica
went through her group undefeated, although she had some tense moments against Sri Lankan
player, Purnima Srimali Wimalarathne, who uses anti-power on her backhand. While Jessica
seemed to have the match in her own hands throughout, fortunes fluctuated. Jessica finally
appeared to have the winning break at 10-6 up in the 5th game only to add a little more
drama to the match before closing it out 11-9. She completed her group matches with a
resounding 3-0 win over the Amina Lukaaya of Uganda – the top seed in her group.
Jenny's first match was against Nadina Riera Coninachs of Spain. Jenny
got away to a slow start, losing the first two games 6-11, 7-11 before finding her form
and dominating the final 3 games 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 in another demonstration of her fighting
spirit and calmness under pressure.
All of the women had games at 3.30 this afternoon and while we were in the waiting area I
offered Chunli my seat….. she said “No, no, I will be sitting
for a long time soon – Jenny always plays 5 sets!” How
prophetic this comment made in jest turned out to be. While Jenny did
vindicate her top seeding in the group with a fine win over Poon Chongmei of Hong Kong
China it was another come from behind win by Jenny. Yet again she was 0-2
down and fought back to win 11-9 in the 5th game.
Both Natalie and Armindeep continued their improvement
but were matched against better, more experienced opponents.
Aaron, while competitive at times in his match was beaten 3-0 by a more
skilful and experienced opponent.
 Phillip was again the star performer in the men, winning 3-0
against Brazilian Jose Barbosa. Barbosa was very strong in the open rallies but Phillip
was able to restrict his opponents' opportunities with his superior short game and serves
causing the Brazilian to get frustrated.
Ryan was unable to make the most of a strong start against the top seed
in his group Nikom Wongsiri (Thailand). He won a closely contested first game before
fading in the following 3 games. Ryan finished 2nd in his group and will
now rely on receiving one of the 11 'lucky losers' spots (of 37 candidates) to progress to
the main draw.
The teams finals went as expected with China winning Gold in both Men's and Women's events
- beating Japan in both finals. Once the draw was completed most interest in the women's
match was the contest between the two defensive players, Fan Ying of China and Japans Yuki
Ishigaki. It turned into an interesting 4 game battle with Fan's superior attack always
having the slight edge - especially when the expedite rule was applied in the 4th game.
China won 3-0.
In the men's contest Japan were outclassed in the singles with Xu Xin in imperious form.
Japan did win the doubles to extend the contest to 4 games.
Phillip and Myles have their last group matches tomorrow
in the morning each needing to win to be certain of qualifying for the main draw. The
mixed doubles, involving Phillip and Jenny, Ryan and Natalie,
starts tomorrow at 1pm. The doubles involving all of the players kicks off at 6pm.
On a general note, this has been another great day for the team with 2 more silver medals
in the pool. We (NZ) are currently sitting 5th on the medal table, an outstanding
achievement.
16 August 2011
The individual events started today with group play involving all but
the top 16 seeds in the men's and women's singles. The matches in the groups are spread
over 3 days - running concurrently with the quarters, semis and finals of the team’s
events.
As top seeds in their groups, Jenny and Phillip had a
day off matches today. Of the others Ryan (pictured after his match),
Myles, Natalie and Jessica all had relatively comfortable 3-0
wins. Armindeep and
Aaron both lost 3-0 to opponents from Thailand and Vietnam respectively.
A continuation of the improvement in our players that has been evident in their day by
day, match by match form will see some excellent results over the next 2 days.
The finalists of both men's and women's teams were decided tonight with China and Japan
competing for the Gold medal in both events. China had two easy wins over Romania in the
women and Chinese Taipei in the men, with the top seed for the singles, Xu Xin, looking
particularly impressive for China. Japan had an equally emphatic win over France, led by
Adrien Mattenet. The other semi-final in the women, between Japan and Chinese Taipei was a
cracker - it lasted 3 hours, holding the appreciative crowd spellbound for much of it. The
contest was finally decided 3-2 in favour of Japan after a comeback from 0-2 in the final
match by Japanese number one, Yuka Ishigaki. The highlight of the evening was the play of
the two defensive players - Fan Ying for China and Ishigaki in their respective
semi-finals. It will be interesting to see how these players are used in the final when
they have the potential to play each other.
15 August 2011
The men’s match was at mid-day against a motivated Spanish team who needed to beat
us to advance to the knockout phase. First up Ryan played the Spanish
number one, Pere Navarro, and found form that was badly lacking the previous day to push
his opponent very hard – having 2 deuce games in a 0-3 loss.
Phillip played the second match and built on his excellent form of the
previous day winning 3-1 against Juan Morego. This match was not only a technical victory
for Phillip but a demonstration of his mental strength as he overcame the disruption of
having to switch to his second bat immediately before the match as his first bat failed a
technical test and he had to glue his rubber on at the last minute.
At 1-1 the future of the contest rested on the doubles. Ryan and Myles
combined outstandingly to surprise the more highly ranked Spanish pair of Morego and
Gabriel Garcia and lead 2-0. In the third game they went point for point without ever
getting the break they needed and were unlucky to lose 10-12. The Spanish dominated the
4th but Ryan and Myles recovered to lead 4-1 in the 5th only to miss a couple of
opportunities and lose momentum and the match.
Myles was then comfortably beaten by Navarro leaving us reviewing a 1-3 score-line with an
‘if only’ feeling.
 The women’s team drew the strong Korean team in the last 16 and lost 0-3
but not before Jessica (pictured with Jenny in doubles below) won a set
in her singles against Suh Hyo Yeong and Jenny and Natalie
(pictured left) also got a game in the doubles against Kim So Ri and Suh. Jenny also
played well losing 0-3 to Moon Mi Ra having promising leads in 2 games – losing one
to two edges by her opponent. 
Tomorrow is the beginning of group play in the singles, sandwiched between the team’s
quarter-finals in the morning and the semi-finals in the evening.
Today was a big step up in terms of the performance of the team members. It was also
notable for the increase in the size of the crowd (often filling nearly 50% of the 13,000
seat stadium) as well as their involvement in matches. The constant cheering during the
exciting matches and (or) those involving China, Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong China and Macau
China adds enormously to the atmosphere in the hall.
From the overall team perspective, we have our first medals - two golds and a
bronze from the swimmers with Glenn Snyders and Lauren Boyle picking up the
Golds.
14 August 2011
Today was the first official day of competition and there was a palpable change in
atmosphere as athletes prepare to get down to business. Nowhere is this more obvious than
in the dining hall where the noise levels have fallen noticeably and 'game faces' are most
definitely on show.
As expected, we have had a tough day. It didn't start well when we found out on our return
from the Opening Ceremony that the schedule for today had been changed at some stage
between just before we left for the Opening Ceremony (4pm) and when we got back
(midnight). It was only a tired trek down to the technical centre just to be sure that
avoided a real crisis today. This was the second such 'tester' for the management team,
the mixed doubles pairs had been recorded incorrectly but was also spotted early and
corrected.
Our other problem today has been nutrition. There is no food available at the stadium, we
are 50 minutes from the Village (so going back between matches is out of the question) and
the 'take out' lunches are completely inadequate - due to the food safety concerns
surrounding keeping food unrefrigerated in such hot humid conditions. Eventually we were
able to get our liaison person to go out and get some basic supermarket take-outs (90
minute round trip).
The first teams match for the women was against China. Every high performer aspires to
test themselves against the best - this was it for the women.  Jenny (pictured) played a chopper, Fan Ying, ranked 19 in
the World. This is not the style Jenny would have preferred to play but she accredited
herself well. While Natalie was clearly outmatched in her contest against
Jingwen Rao (88 in the world), she wasn't overawed and took her chances to win some good
points.
The men's first contest was against Chinese Taipei. We lost 0-3 but Phillip
performed with great credit against Chen Chienan, a player ranked 140 in the world, losing
2-3 and creating real pressure on his opponent at times. Ryan also drew a
tough opponent in Huang Yihua, ranked 129 in the world.
Mongolia was the team that the women had targeted as a good chance for a win. The 2-3 loss
was a disappointment for the team but there was no questioning the effort they put in. Our
two wins came via Jenny who won both in 5 games and both from 2-6 in the
5th. Talk about doing it the hard way! All of the other contests were 1-3 losses. Armindeep
produced a great start in the deciding match, winning the first game 12-10 before fading
in the last 3.
Thailand was next up for the men. Phillip got the team off to a great
start, winning 3-0 against Sarayut Tancharoen. The rest of the match was a little
one-sided and the 1-3 result was a fair reflection of the contest.
The day finished with the women against Chinese Taipei. Jenny's opponent
was Huang Yihua, ranked 30 in the world and extremely quick. Natalie
produced some excellent table tennis against a world class opponent (Cheng Iching - 67 in
the world) to win a number of good rallies. Both players were lifted by the noisy support
they received the men's team who had by now finished and adjourned to the stand for the
purpose. The day finished with a one-sided doubles contest against an extremely skilful
pair from Chinese Taipei.
It was a very weary team that trudged to the bus. As usual everyone had something to think
about for the next day as well as aspects of the day that they could reflect on with
pride.
13 August 2011
The day of the Opening Ceremony dawned and brought with it an air of
excitement. Throughout the Village there was a camaraderie and shared anticipation that
was enlightening. And we were not to be disappointed! The logistics alone were mind
boggling - getting 8,000 to 9,000 athletes and officials to and from the stadium involved
complete closure of 50km of motorways as a fleet of 400 to 500 police escorted buses
ferried us to and from the venue. Much of the journey was lined with local spectators - 5
to 10 deep on the side of the road in many places.
But attending such events is not all fun as the uninitiated were soon to discover. On
arrival at the stadium car (bus) park we were assembled in alphabetical order and
proceeded to walk the 1km or so to the stadium. The remaining few hundred metres was
covered over the following 90 minutes, a few metres at a time as each country was
introduced to the capacity crowd, in the bowels of the stadium in stifling heat and
humidity. This rather torturous journey was made far less demanding by the Namibian team -
two in front of New Zealand who entertained themselves and those around them with an
exhibition of song, dance and harmonising that would have done Ladysmith Black Mombasa
proud. Their sense of fun was truly infectious.
When it was finally our turn to enter the stadium it was all worth it - the crowd, the
performances and the venue were stunning. We have been told by those would saw it on one
of the free view TV channels back in NZ that it was truly spectacular on television as
well.
As the ceremony was drawing to a close, Chunli used her unquestioned ability to get things
done to position us at the head of the queue of for the first bus to leave ensuring that
the NZ table tennis players were first back to the Village and into bed - ready for the
start of competition the next day.
12 August 2011
Another busy day at the World University Games. We were unable to train today as the
venue is prepared for the Opening Ceremony. There was a flag raising ceremony early in the
morning as the NZ flag was hoisted and we were officially accepted into the Village.
Following this Chunli and I went to the official draw. The women have the most exciting,
but daunting of draws - China, Chinese Taipei and Mongolia. The men drew Spain, Chinese
Taipei and Thailand and looking forward to their matches.
We have early start tomorrow morning and a full day - let the Games (and the games) begin!
(photos to be posted)
11 August 2011
The team embarked on the long flight to Guangzhou in good spirits with everyone fit,
healthy and excited about the event. The trip was made to seem a little longer by the lack
of in-flight entertainment - no screens
in the back of the sets and no in-flight movie. Fortunately the arts of card playing,
reading and conversation are not completely lost.
On arrival in Guangzhou we were delighted to discover that there were official buses
available to transport us directly to the Village in Shenzhen, 2 1/2 hours away. This
saved us the planned and much longer arrangements on public transport.
As we got closer to Shenzhen we started to get a feel for the scale and importance of this
event. There are billboards everywhere welcoming and encouraging participants. I started
to count them (billboards) beside the motorways, on the buildings (many all the way down
10 storey buildings) and on bridges, large walls etc. but stopped as I quickly got to 100.
 When we reached the Village -
some 50km outside Shenzhen and specifically built for this event - we were greeted with
our liaison team and University Sport NZ (USNZ) Team Management who quickly and
efficiently dealt with our bags and initial accreditation matters. 
Ryan (pictured right) was immediately accosted by the media - because he is the tallest
and best looking...... if Ryan is to be believed!
We were shown our rooms and given a brief orientation and then went to one of the two
large dining rooms for lunch. This was followed by another 50 minute bus ride to the
playing venue for a look and light training session. These Games is going to be the
biggest yet with 12,500 athletes and officials (10,000 athletes) with many Olympic and
World medallists amongst them.
On our return there was a team meeting for everyone for a 'get to know everyone' quiz and
the announcement of swimmer and Commonwealth Games medallist Melissa Ingram as our Team
Captain. Melissa will lead us into the Opening Ceremony tomorrow night. The Opening
Ceremony is set to be something very special aimed to start the competition in great
style.
It has been a very long and tiring day for the team but everyone is waiting in
anticipation of both the Opening Ceremony and the start of competition on Saturday.
Murray Finch
28 July 2011
TTNZ is delighted and proud to announce that both its men's and women's teams have been
selected in the University Sport New Zealand Team for the 2011 World Univerity Games. The
Games will be held in Shenzhen, China from August 12 to 23. The World University Games
(WUGs), also known as the Universiade, are held every two years under the auspices of
FISU, the International University Sports Federation. The Games are the second largest
global high performance multi-sports event after the Olympics with a very high standard of
competition in all sports - generally between world junior championships and world senior
championships level. There are more than 7,000 athletes and officials expected for the
event.
The table tennis competition has both teams and individual events. The teams events follow
the Olympic format - 3 person teams with 4 singles and a doubles (3rd match). The Games
provide athletes with an excellent opportunity to test and demonstrate their skills on the
world stage as well as invaluable experience in a major multiple sport event - ideal
preparation for Commonwealth and Olympic Games.
The New Zealand Team for the Games is made up of 88 athletes and officials in Athletics,
Basketball (Men's), Cycling, Diving, Gymnastics (Artistic & Rhythmic), Judo, Swimming
and Table Tennis.
Our men's team is led by top ranked Phillip Xiao (Auckland) (pictured
right) who is looking to build on a strong showing reaching the semi-finals at the just
completed Oceania Cup. Joining Phillip, is the experienced Ryan Zhu
(Auckland) as well as Aaron Gong (Auckland) and Myles Collins
(Waikato).
Jenny Hung (Canterbury) (pictured left) will lead the women's team. Jenny
is looking forward to locking horns again with many of the players she battled with during
her extremely successful international junior career. Jenny will bring the experience of
her participation in the 2010 Commonwealth Games to the team. Armindeep Singh
(Waikato), Natalie Paterson (Manawatu) and Jessica MacAskill
(Waikato) make up with the balance of the team with Armindeep the only player returning
from the 2007 World University Games.
 TTNZ National Women's Coach, Li Chunli (pictured right), fresh
from successfully coaching Karen Li to a win at the Oceania Cup, takes the Head Coach role
with the  team. With the experience of 4 Olympic Games and 3 Commonwealth
Games as both a player and coach, Chunli is the ideal person to guide the players through
a mulitple sports event.
Murray Finch (pictured left) takes on the role of Team Manager (self
funded) and also brings his experience from the 2000 Olympics, 2007 World University Games
as well as multiple world junior and senior events to the team.
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