Supported by Hunan Television, the curtain for the 2008 table tennis year will finally be drawn with the prestigious Tournament of Champions being staged in the southern Chinese city of Changsha.
The comment may seem an anomaly.
However, the ever growing international calendar, and of course the Beijing Olympic Games, has meant that the tournament usually staged in late December had to be scheduled for early in 2009.
Friday 9th to Sunday 11th January 2009 will therefore see the world’s leading table tennis stars congregate in Changsha for the final chapter of the 2008 annual.
Strong Chinese Team
China, as always is strongly represented with the majority of their Olympians on duty. The one absentee from Beijing being Wang Nan, now retired from international table tennis.
She is replaced by Li Xiaoxia; for the men Ma Lin, Wang Hao and Wang Liqin head the all star cast whilst for the women it is Zhang Yining, Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia who will be in action.
Challengers
The host’s elite with will be challenged by European stars and by those who won medals at the Beijing Olympic Games.
In the women’s event Europe is represented by Lithuania’s Ruta Paskauskiene, the European champion and by the talented Romanian teenager, Elizabeta Samara; whilst the Singaporean Beijing OIympic silver medallists - Li Jia Wei, Wang Yue Gu and Feng Tianwei - are all on duty.
European Men
Meanwhile for the men, Germany’s Timo Boll, who completed 2008 with a hat-trick of wins on the ITTF Pro Tour, heads the European challenge with compatriot Dimitrij Ovtcharov plus the uninhibited Kalinikos Kreanga of Greece and the evergreen Swede, Jörgen Persson supporting the European cause.
Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan completes the line up.
Age Range
Notably only one of the eight women players is over 30 years old. Lithuania’s Ruta Paskauskiene is the oldest one at 31; whilst Elizabeta Samara of Romania is the only teenager competing in Changsha.
All the other ladies were born in China representing the People’s Republic and Singapore respectively and of course for Singapore’s Li Jiawei, Feng Tianwei and Wang Yue Gu, the Tournament of Champions is the opportunity to take revenge for the defeat in the Olympic Team final.
The average age in the Men’s event is 28.125 (women 24.25). One of the reasons is Sweden’s Jörgen Persson. The Olympic semi-finalist is now 42 years old, the youngest being Germany’s 20 year old Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
Prize Fund
The prize money is equal for men and women and amount to US$ 250,000. The respective winners each receive US$ 45,000.
Source: www.ittf.com
