26th September, 2015
Asian top table tennis players have gathered in Pattaya, Thailand for their quest for gold at the Suzuki 2015 ITTF-Asian Championships, which starts from Saturday and ends 3 October 2015.
The eight-days biennial event will have seven gold medals on offer: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s team, women’s team, men’s double, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
Currently the most successful men’s singles player in Asian Championships history with three victories, China’s Ma Long will fight for his unprecedented fourth consecutive win.
The newly crowned 2015 World Champion stated: “2015 has been a good year for me so far and I hope this will continue and win me another title in Thailand this time round. It won’t be easy with all the top players from Asia here, but I will definitely be giving in my 100 percent.”
It will be no easy task for Ma as his compatriot, reigning Olympics Champion Zhang Jike, will be equally eager to pocket his first Asian Championships singles title in Pattaya to add to his elaborate collection of trophies.
Korea’s Jung Youngsik as well as Japan’s Maharu Yoshimura who both have had a successful run in the 2015 ITTF World Tour, will be seeking to continue their strong form to eye for the crown as well.
According to the ITTF website, the women’s singles defending champion Liu Shiwen of China will be looking to avenge her 2015 World Championships loss against top seeded Ding Ning. Ding was able to beat Liu in an epic final battle despite badly injuring her ankle in the 7th game of the Women’s Singles gold medal match.
Singapore’s Feng Tianwei who defeated Liu and her teammate Zhu Yuling at the ITTF-Asian Cup in India earlier this year, will hope to repeat her success to take the crown.
Ai Fukuhara and Mima Ito will carry on Japan’s dream for gold after their top player Kasumi Ishikawa withdrew from the tournament Friday with a leg injury.
Both players are in their career best form to aim for gold in Pattaya, with Fukuhara winning three titles on the 2015 ITTF World Tour, and Ito posing great threats to the Chinese at the 2015 World Championships in Suzhou.