It was a repeat of the 2000 Commonwealth Games final for Gao Ning as he was left in second place with a silver medal again, four years ago in New Delhi Gao Ning was beaten in the Men’s singles final by Yang Zi. This time around at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow it was Zhan Jian who was able to defeat the top seed in five games to clinch the gold medal (11-9, 11-2, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7).
Zhan Jian - Photo by: Zimbo
Four years ago it was Sharath Kamal Achanta of India who was able to take the bronze medal, this time although he was placed as the third seed he was unable to repeat his third place success as he was overcome by the fourth seed of the tournament England’s Liam Pitchford in six games (11-6, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10). The Englishman commented on his win “I wanted to end on a positive note and so it was fantastic to win the bronze and even better to be the first ever English person to do so. The guys have been amazing and we have all worked really hard, to achieve five medals is a great success for English table tennis.”
Meanwhile in the Women’s singles event, it was Singapore to take the Gold medal again with World ranked number four and number one seed for the games Feng Tianwei taking the fifth gold medal for her country in the games. In her final match she was able to overcome her teammate Yu Mengyu in five games (11-7, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-2). Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu were also able to win Gold in the women’s doubles event together, the women’s singles bronze medal also went to Singapore as Ye Lin was able to claim victory over Australia’s Jian Fang Lay in four straight sets (11-5, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7).
Liam was not the only success for the England team as they were able to make history by clinching not only the Gold medal in the mixed doubles event but also the Silver and Bronze medal. The husband and wife pair of Paul and Joanna Drinkhall were able to win England’s first Gold medal in the games since 2002. Paul and Joanna Drinkhall were able to clinch the Gold medal after a five set battle against teammates Liam Pitchford and Tin Tin Ho. The couple were able to get off to a flying start with a 2-0 lead against the new young pairing, however Pitchford and Ho fought back strong to equal at 2-2, in the fifth and final set it was the Drinkhall’s who were able to race ahead and take the match at 11-5, (11-7, 11-3, 5-11, 10-12, 11-5). Joanna commented on her win “It is great to win a mixed doubles event, and it is great that we are able to share that, the crowd and atmosphere have been incredible. I’m feeling a little emotional right now.”
Tin Tin Ho who is just a mere 15 years old also commented on her silver medal win “It feels great to have won a silver medal, they played really well and we didn’t have the best of starts. We managed to come back but were unable to take that fifth set, it is amazing to pick up a silver medal in my games debut.”
Meanwhile in the Bronze medal match England’s Kelly Sibley and Daniel Reed who narrowly missed out on the final having lost out in three games to two against teammates Paul and Joanna Drinkhall came up against the world number 4 and 34 from Singapore who had already achieved Gold in their team matches at the games. The top seeds were able to race back and take the first set, however it was the English pairing who surprised us all, mounting an incredible comeback and reeling off three straight games in order to take the Bronze medal. 26 year old Kelly Sibley was delighted with her win “It feels absolutely amazing, I can’t quite believe it. I’m still shaking, we knew that the pressure was on and it would be a tough match however we knew we played well together and that if we could keep the pressure on them we could cause an upset.” Reed added “It feels amazing! It shows we have a good friendship and good trust when we were under such pressure, I am really proud of us. For England to have a 1-2-3 is just incredible.”
Scotland's Gavin Rumgay put table tennis in the limelight with his famous, 'Do the Rumgay' celebration as thousands of media companies around the world shared his image/video which went viral. Video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/commonwealth-games/28477920
What a fantastic tournament with team spirit displayed by all competitors in Glasgow, Scotland!
Like and tweet our articles to the World. Lets spread the word of Table Tennis.
Source: ITTF & ETTA
Written by: Emily Standing
TableTennisDaily
Zhan Jian - Photo by: Zimbo
Four years ago it was Sharath Kamal Achanta of India who was able to take the bronze medal, this time although he was placed as the third seed he was unable to repeat his third place success as he was overcome by the fourth seed of the tournament England’s Liam Pitchford in six games (11-6, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10). The Englishman commented on his win “I wanted to end on a positive note and so it was fantastic to win the bronze and even better to be the first ever English person to do so. The guys have been amazing and we have all worked really hard, to achieve five medals is a great success for English table tennis.”
Meanwhile in the Women’s singles event, it was Singapore to take the Gold medal again with World ranked number four and number one seed for the games Feng Tianwei taking the fifth gold medal for her country in the games. In her final match she was able to overcome her teammate Yu Mengyu in five games (11-7, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-2). Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu were also able to win Gold in the women’s doubles event together, the women’s singles bronze medal also went to Singapore as Ye Lin was able to claim victory over Australia’s Jian Fang Lay in four straight sets (11-5, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7).
Liam was not the only success for the England team as they were able to make history by clinching not only the Gold medal in the mixed doubles event but also the Silver and Bronze medal. The husband and wife pair of Paul and Joanna Drinkhall were able to win England’s first Gold medal in the games since 2002. Paul and Joanna Drinkhall were able to clinch the Gold medal after a five set battle against teammates Liam Pitchford and Tin Tin Ho. The couple were able to get off to a flying start with a 2-0 lead against the new young pairing, however Pitchford and Ho fought back strong to equal at 2-2, in the fifth and final set it was the Drinkhall’s who were able to race ahead and take the match at 11-5, (11-7, 11-3, 5-11, 10-12, 11-5). Joanna commented on her win “It is great to win a mixed doubles event, and it is great that we are able to share that, the crowd and atmosphere have been incredible. I’m feeling a little emotional right now.”
Tin Tin Ho who is just a mere 15 years old also commented on her silver medal win “It feels great to have won a silver medal, they played really well and we didn’t have the best of starts. We managed to come back but were unable to take that fifth set, it is amazing to pick up a silver medal in my games debut.”
Meanwhile in the Bronze medal match England’s Kelly Sibley and Daniel Reed who narrowly missed out on the final having lost out in three games to two against teammates Paul and Joanna Drinkhall came up against the world number 4 and 34 from Singapore who had already achieved Gold in their team matches at the games. The top seeds were able to race back and take the first set, however it was the English pairing who surprised us all, mounting an incredible comeback and reeling off three straight games in order to take the Bronze medal. 26 year old Kelly Sibley was delighted with her win “It feels absolutely amazing, I can’t quite believe it. I’m still shaking, we knew that the pressure was on and it would be a tough match however we knew we played well together and that if we could keep the pressure on them we could cause an upset.” Reed added “It feels amazing! It shows we have a good friendship and good trust when we were under such pressure, I am really proud of us. For England to have a 1-2-3 is just incredible.”
Scotland's Gavin Rumgay put table tennis in the limelight with his famous, 'Do the Rumgay' celebration as thousands of media companies around the world shared his image/video which went viral. Video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/commonwealth-games/28477920
What a fantastic tournament with team spirit displayed by all competitors in Glasgow, Scotland!
Like and tweet our articles to the World. Lets spread the word of Table Tennis.
Source: ITTF & ETTA
Written by: Emily Standing
TableTennisDaily
