Something the Mainstream Media Doesn't Talk About: Table Tennis

Football, rugby, cricket, tennis, Formula One, athletics and even cycling, most sports fans in the UK are up to date on pretty much all of them.

Baseball, basketball, football, [ice] hockey, NASCAR, and soccer. These are sports that the average American sports fan probably knows quite a lot about.

Despite being the most popular racket sport in the world in terms of participation (and the second most popular participation sport in the world), not many people are all that knowledgeable when it comes to the professionals in table tennis.

A statistic for you guys in the US, table tennis has approximately 20 million active participants in the US alone. This figure, from 1988, was the most recent I could possibly find, so without doubt the figure above is much higher now.

However, the amount of those 20 million mentioned above who know about the 'goings-on' at the top end of the sport is probably much, much less.

And I doubt many people know about the greats in table tennis. Two of my favourite players in our era are Austria's Werner Schlager, and Chinese legend Wang Liqin. If you don't know who they are, look them up.

Of course this lack of knowledge about professional table tennis, especially in the West, is due to a serious lack of media coverage in the world's most popular paddle sport.

So instead of just talking about the history of table tennis and all the previous Olympic and World Championship winners, I shall provide a round-up of all the latest news in the world of Table Tennis.

Malaysian and Iranian Victory at the Start of India's Top Prize

In the Indian city of Indore at the moment, there is the Pro Tour Indian Open Table Tennis competition currently taking place.

A total of 16 countries are participating in the tournament and the prize money for the winner in the men and women's singles category is US $30,800.

In the first round that is taking place, two host players were knocked out in the women's singles by two Malaysian paddlers.

Fourth seeded NG Sock Kim wiped out India's Niveditha Arumbakkam 4-0 (11-6, 12-10, 11-8 and 11-4).

Then, second-seeded Beh Lee Wei knocked out another Indian, Prajakta Tipal, 4-1 (8-11, 8-11, 12-10, 8-11 and 7-11).

Speaking to Malaysian website Bernama, Beh said: "I tried my best to beat the Indian player, she had some home ground advantage. But I was confident during the matches. I hope to make it to the semi-finals."

In the men's singles, it was good news for Yoosof Farah as India home-boy Ibrahim Muhd Shakirin lost to Iran's Mohammad Bayrampour Arallo 2-4 (15-13, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6 and 13-11).

Iranian Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Praises Young Talent

While we're on the fantastic topic of Iranian success, the ITTF - Iranian Table Tennis Federation, not to be confused with the other ITTF, the International Table Tennis Federation— President Adham Sharara has paid tribute to Iranian prodigy Noshad Alamiyan for his stunning performances in the recent Junior World Championships in Madrid.

"I am very impressed with Noshad’s results. To be honest we already saw a great potential in Noshad the first time we saw him in international competitions at the junior level," he said.

"But this year in Madrid at the World Junior Championships we were very impressed by his progress and his great skills."

The ITTF supremo went on to say: "Now we can see that he continues to improve and that is a great success for him personally, for his coaches and of course for the Iranian Table Tennis Federation.

"In my opinion this is the time now for Noshad to make a great jump into the top senior international players."

Japenese Duo Have Bright Future After Qatar Success

In the recent U-21 2009 Qatar Table Tennis Open, Japan's Kenta Matsudaira and Yuka Ishigaki won the men and women singles title respectively.

Kenta Matsudaira, the top seed in the men's event, beat Hungarian paddler Krisztian Nagy over five games, 11-4, 7-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-6, in the final of the Qatar Open.

In the women's final, third seed Yuka Ishigaki overcame Turkey's Hu Melek in a thrilling six game match, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-2, 11-2.

CTTA Raising Money for Their Star Player After Horrific Injury

The Croatian Table Tennis Association (CTTA) is raising money for the medical treatment and rehabilitation of Croatian table-tennis player Sandra Paovic.

Paovic was seriously injured in a traffic accident near Paris on 30 January. She suffered a severe cervical-spinal injury and was operated on that same day at a hospital in Rouen, but her rehabilitation will be long and very expensive.

Paovic cannot move her legs and can barely move her arms. According to French and German doctors, there is little hope for her full recovery.

She will need nine months of rehabilitation at a special clinic that will cost around 300,000 Euros.

Paovic cannot expect financial support from her family since she has been financially supporting her mother and father. Her mother recently had a stroke, and her father is unemployed.

The Croatian Olympic Committee (COC) and the Croatian table-tennis association have established a special solidarity fund for Paovic, and the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) will set up a similar one.

So there you are, something that you could not possibly find in the mainstream media, a round-up of all the latest news from the very top of the table tennis hierarchy.