The K-Sports 2013 ITTF-Oceania Cup successfully concluded in Bendigo, Australia on 2 July 2013.
It was a fruitful day for host country Australia, as they swept 5 of 6 medals on offer, missing out only on the Silver Medal in the Women's Singles.
In the Women's Singles Finals, top seed and defending champion LI Chunli (NZL) raced to a 3-1 lead against MIAO Miao of Australia. However, MIAO quickly recovered and bounced back to win 4-3, to the delight of the supportive home crowd in Bendigo Stadium.
"I would like to give my thanks to everybody here who are supporting me. Thanks to the organisers, the coaches, my parent and all the friends here. Thank you very much for your support," acknowledged MIAO during an interview after the match.
In the Men's Singles Finals, the match went according to seedings, as William HENZELL (AUS), top seed and defending champion, earned an easy 4-1 victory over teammate David POWELL. This is the 32 year olds 5th Men's Singles title at the ITTF-Oceania Cup, having won previously in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012.
In addition to clinching gold, MIAO and HENZELL also win the honour of representing Oceania at the 2013 ITTF Women's World Cup and 2013 ITTF Men's World Cup respectively, which is a massive boost to Australia having representatives in both events.
On winning a ticket to Japan for the STARTS 2013 ITTF Women's World Cup, MIAO said: "Yes I am looking forward to the World Cup. There will be even tougher competition as the World Cup, but I'm happy to qualify and have the opportunity to play against the top players from around the world."
HENZELL also had high expectations for himself at the LIEBHERR 2013 ITTF Men's World Cup in Belgium, stating: "I am very much looking forward to the experience. I had the best results of my career in the Olympics last year, so I am hoping to carry some of that form to Belgium. Hopefully I can knock out one of the top 10 players. That would be really special."
The STARTS 2013 ITTF Women's World Cup will be held in Kobe, Japan, from 21 to 23 September 2013. The LIEBHERR 2013 ITTF Men's World Cup will take place in Verviers, Belgium, from 25 to 27 October 2013.
Results from the K-Sports 2013 ITTF-Oceania Cup:
Men's Singles
Gold: William HENZELL (AUS) Silver: David POWELL (AUS) Bronze: Robert FRANK (AUS)
Women's Singles
Gold: MIAO Miao (AUS) Silver: LI Chunli (NZL) Bronze: Zhenhua DEDERKO (AUS)For more information, please contact ITTF's Promotion Manager Matt Pound at media@ittf.com.
About International Table Tennis Federation
The International Table Tennis Federation is responsible for the global sport of table tennis and has 218 affiliated National Associations. Table Tennis is an Olympic Sport, introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics Games. Table Tennis is also a Paralympic Sport.
Find out more about the International Table Tennis Federation at ITTF.com.
As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.
These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
20 Years at #1: