(By Steve Hopkins) China dominated in Croatia this week at the WTT Contender Zagreb event.  Hugo Calderano fell in the opening round (to Japan’s Togami 3-2), leaving Fan Zhendong, Lin Gaoyuan, Lin Shidong, and Xiang Peng to fight it out for the title .  World No. 1 Fan Zhendong  beat Lin Shidong in one semifinal […]

(By Steve Hopkins) Germany was expected to be atop the Men’s podiums from the start.  They had the top seed, Dang Qiu, and even without Timo Boll, their deep team included Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska.  But after a singles competition that left Germany completely out of the Top 3, there was some unexpected intrigue […]

(By Steve Hopkins) The European Games Singles Champions were crowned on Tuesday at the European Games in Krakow, Poland.  Marcos Freitas had an amazing run to the Final, and 16 year old French penholder Felix Lebrun surprised the field to reach the Final as well.  The momentum of the match changed several times with Freitas […]

(By Steve Hopkins) The European Games Singles Champions were crowned on Tuesday at the European Games in Krakow, Poland.  Bernadette Szocs emerged as champion in Women’s Singles.  She defeated Poland’s Natalia Bajor in the Semifinals and then topped Xioxin Yang of Monoco 4-3 to claim the title.  Szocs fell behind early, losing the first two […]

(By Steve Hopkins) The singles semifinals are now set at the European Games in Krakow, Poland.  The final four pairings in Men’s Singles are Alexis Lebrun versus Marcos Freitas, and Felix Lebrun versus Andrej Gacina.  The top seeds have all fallen, and however the final matches shake out, there will be some neat story-lines.  Could […]