(By Steve Hopkins/Photo by Bowmar Sports)
2018 World Team Championships : Team Canada Update
The Team Canada Men’s team for the Liebherr 2018 World Table Tennis Team Championships
is Antoine Bernadet, Bryan Ho, Matthew Lehmann, Marko Medjugorac, and Terence Yeung. This highest world ranking is Medjugorac at World No. 258. The average age of the team is 19.
The Team Canada Women’s team for the Liebherr 2018 World Table Tennis Team Championships
Is Alicia Cote, Laura Lai, Joyce Xu, Justina Yeung, and Mo Zhang. Zhang anchors the team with a World Ranking of No. 26. Zhang is also the team elder at age 29, where Yeung and Cote are both 18 and Lai and Xu are only 15 years old.
The Canadian Women were a part of one of the most competitive groups in Division 2. They entered the tournament as the 46th overall seed, which placed them as the last seed in Group H. This makes any win an upset, and they finished with wins over Chile (the top seed), England (seed 3), and the Dominican Republic (seed 5). This 3-2 finish was then amplified by losses by Chile and Switzerland that left Canada finishing second in the group (behind Serbia). Group H was the only group where the sixth seed finished in the top two.
Team Canada’s Women advanced to the Division 2 knock-out stage where the competition will be for positions 25-36. Next up for Team Canada is France, a team that was seeded first in Division 2, but that suffered two upset losses in the group stage. If Team Canada wins, they would face Slovakia in the next round. The top seeds in the knock-out stage are Slovakia, Spain, Serbia, and Slovenia. Teams that advance will continue to the Finals (with the winner taking position No. 25), and those that lose will continue to play against the other teams that lost in the same round until each position is determined.
The Canadian Men entered the Liebherr 2018 World Table Tennis Team Championships as the 48th seed, which gave them the last position in Division 2. They played in Group E with Chile, Denmark, Ukraine, Thailand, and Netherlands. As the bottom seed in the group, they expected an uphill climb – ultimately finishing with an 0-5 record.
Team Canada’s Men finished in sixth in their group. The advanced to the Division 2 knock-out stage where the competition will be for positions 37-48. Next up for Team Canada is Turkey, a team that finished 1-4 in Group F. If Team Canada wins, they would face Thailand in the next round. The top seeds in the knock-out stage are Bulgaria, Thailand, Serbia, and Kazakhstan. Teams that advance will continue to the Finals (with the winner taking position No. 37), and those that lose will continue to play against the other teams that lost in the same round until each position is determined.
Visit ButterflyOnline.com for updates throughout the event.
