Ma Long to face Ma Lin
Chinese Superstars Ma Long and Ma Lin will contest the Mens Singles Final in the 2009 English Open. Top seed Ma Long always looked the... Continue reading
Chinese Stars progress to the final
18 year-old Chinese sensation Liu Shiwen, a member of the Chinese National team since 2004 had to show all of her battling qualities to get... Continue reading
Sensational win for Seiya Kishikawa
Seiya Kishikawa again defied the World Ranking List as well as a fight-back from second seed Timo Boll (Germany). The World ranked no. 58 sensationally... Continue reading
Korean Master class in the art of defence
The top four seeded players booked their Semi-Final places in the Ladies Singles. The match between Korean defender supreme – Kim Kyung Ah and the... Continue reading
English interest is over
English interest in the English Open is over. Paul Drinkhall, England’s sole survivor missed out against Seo Hyun Deok (Korea) 9-11, 12-14, 11-8, 12-14, 5-11... Continue reading
Kishikawa beats World no. nine
Seiya Kishikawa, a 22 year-old from Fukuoka, Japan who plays for the famous Borussia Dusseldorf Club in the German Bundersleague produced the big shock in... Continue reading
No upsets in Ladies last sixteen
All eight last 16 clashes in the Ladies Singles went with the ITTF Rankings although not without producing some spectacular and at times truly outstanding... Continue reading
Drinkhall master class
Top seeded Paul Drinkhall made his way safely into the last eight of the Under 21 Boys Singles at the English Open. His opponent at the last 16 stage - Tomas Tregler (Cze) is the “real deal” – a classy all-action top-spinner with some excellent flicks especially on the forehand.
Day 3 England Summary
As play intensified, the world’s top players demonstrated just why they are so highly ranked, the England players fought well, but it was only Paul... Continue reading
Drinkhall meets his match
Paul Drankhall met his match in round two of the Mens Singles when he was beaten by the consistent and silky-smooth Chen Qi (China), the... Continue reading
Drinkhall goes through all guns blazing
19 year-old Paul Drinkhall carried England’s hopes safely into the last 32 of the Mens Singles with an impressive 4-0 win over World no. 83... Continue reading
Darius and Paul win last gasp thriller
Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight advanced to the Quarter-Finals of the Mens Doubles with a superb last-gasp win over Gionis Panagiosis (ranked no. 42) and Konstantinos Papageorgiou (160) (Greece) a pairing with vastly superior Singles ratings to the English National Champions.
Parker and Sibley so close to victory
There was glory in defeat for England’s top lady pairing – Kelly Sibley and Jo Parker who exited the Ladies Doubles, but, only after seven games of fluctuating and at times action-packed table tennis.
Day 2 England Summary
There was less England presence on court during day 2, with most of England’s qualifying matches having taken place on during the first day of play
Battling defeats for Baggaley and Rumgay
Thursday afternoon saw the pace heat up considerably as the Mens and Ladies Singles reached the Final Qualification rounds.
Mixed Results For England
There were mixed results for the English players on Thursday morning although Liam Pitchford again despatched a higher-rated opponent
Superb wins for Hannah and Chloe
Day two of the English Open saw England no. four Hannah Hicks (World ranked no. 598) secure a superb winner over Neha Aggarwal (India) (no.... Continue reading
Day 1 England Summary
Being such a young squad, England were always going to have a tough time against the wealth of experience of the world’s best players. The players fought well and managed 14 wins on the first day, taking some unsuspecting highly ranked scalps on the way, with the sand out performance being Liam Pitchfords defeat off world number 89 Liu Song from Argentina.
Emma involved in two great battles
England no. nine lady Emma Vickers (Derbyshire) was the big English winner in the first round of Qualifying action in the Under 21 Ladies Singles Groups on the first day of the English Open. Globally ranked no. 820 Emma excelled and she beat World no. 582 – Divya Deshpande (India), fighting back strongly after losing the first game to win 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7.