DUBAI // Xu Xin, the 2015 men’s champion and world No 3, will open his campaign against Yuya Oshima, the world No 25 from Japan, as he defends his Table Tennis Asian Cup crown this weekend in Dubai.
Xin, who also won the Asian Cup gold medal in 2012 and 2013, will later meet world No 14 Jung Young-sik of South Korea and Chiang Hung-chieh in the opening day’s group matches at the Dubai World Trade Centre’s Zabeel Hall 1 today, the opening day of the Nakheel Table Tennis Asian Cup.
Feng Tianwei, the defending women’s champion and world No 7, will open her campaign against Chen Szu-yu of Chinese Taipei and later meet No 10 Mima Ito and Jiang Huajun after being drawn in Pool 3 of the women’s draw.
• Read more: Ahmed Rizvi – 2016 Table Tennis Asian Cup to serve up ranking points ahead of Olympics qualification
• Also see: 2016 Asian Cup Table Tennis in Dubai: Your guide to the event
Liu Shiwen, the women’s world No 1, has been drawn in Pool 1 alongside Miu Hirano of Japan, Tie Yana of Hong Kong and Lee Zion of South Korea. Li Xiaoxia, the women’s singles gold medal winner at the 2012 London Olympic Games, has been drawn alongside Yang Hae-un of South Korea, Singapore’s Yu Mengyu and UAE No 1 Noura Al Maazmi.
The top two from each of these three groups will qualify directly for the last eight, while the other two quarter-final spots will be decided following a play-off between the winner of the fourth group, dubbed the Intercontinental Cup Group, and the three third-placed ladies in the main group. The men’s competition will follow the same format.
The women’s Intercontinental Group features India’s Manika Batra, the UAE’s Mayd Al Balooshi, Qatar’s Noora Mohamen and Suthasini Sawettabut of Thailand, while the men’s Intercontinental Group has UAE No 1 Abdulla Al Balooshi, India’s Soumyajit Ghosh, Nima Alamian of Iran and Singapore’s Clarence Chew Zheyu.
“As you know, the Asian Cup is a premier event on our Asian table tennis calendar and the top 16 men and top 16 women from around the continent will be here,” said Tony Yue, general secretary of Asian Table Tennis Union, at last night’s tournament draw at the Dragon Mart 2.
“Among us we have Olympic and World champions and many national champions. So I expect a spectacular show of table tennis in Dubai over the next three days. May the best man and the best woman win.”
FULL DRAW
Men
Group 1: Xu Xin (China, world No 3); Jung Young-sik (South Korea, No 14); Yuya Oshima (Japan, No 25); Chiang Hung-chieh (Chinese Taipei, No 72)
Group 2: Zhang Jike (China, world No 4); Wong Chun Ting (Hong Kong, No 11); Lee Sangsu (South Korea, No 16); Sharath Kamal Achanta (India, No 61)
Group 3: Chuang Chih-yuan (Chinese Taipei, world No 6); Jun Mizutani (Japan, No 7); Gao Ning (Singapore, No 27); Ho Kwan Kit (Hong Kong, No 52)
Group 4 (Intercontinental Cup Group)
Soumyajit Ghosh (India); Nima Alamian (Iran); Abdulla Al Balooshi (UAE); Clarence Chew Zheyu (Singapore)
Women
Group 1: Liu Shiwen (China, world No 1); Miu Hirano (Japan, No 19); Tie Yana (Hong Kong, No 20); Lee Zion (South Korea, No 87)
Group 2: Li Xiaoxia (China, world No 5); Yang Hae-un (South Korea, No 16); Yu Mengyu (Singapore, No 23); Noura Al Maazmi (UAE, unranked)
Group 3: Feng Tianwei (Singapore, World No 7); Mima Ito (Japan, No 10); Chen Szu-yu (Singapore, No 27); Jiang Huajun (Hong Kong, No 30)
Group 4 (Intercontinental Cup Group)
Noora Al Abri (Qatar); Manika Batra (India); Majd Al Balooshi (UAE); Suthasini Sawettabut (Thailand)
*Top two from first three groups advance; 3rd Place Groups 1-3 plus Winner Group 4 go to play-offs for last two spots in quarter-finals.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
The%20Super%20Mario%20Bros%20Movie
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Aaron%20Horvath%20and%20Michael%20Jelenic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chris%20Pratt%2C%20Anya%20Taylor-Joy%2C%20Charlie%20Day%2C%20Jack%20Black%2C%20Seth%20Rogen%20and%20Keegan-Michael%20Key%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Abramovich London
A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.
A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.
Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.
Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Company profile: buybackbazaar.com
Name: buybackbazaar.com
Started: January 2018
Founder(s): Pishu Ganglani and Ricky Husaini
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech, micro finance
Initial investment: $1 million
Profile of Whizkey
Date founded: 04 November 2017
Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 10
Sector: AI, software
Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million
Funding stage: Series A
The biog
Name: Sarah Al Senaani
Age: 35
Martial status: Married with three children - aged 8, 6 and 2
Education: Masters of arts in cultural communication and tourism
Favourite movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Favourite hobbies: Art and horseback ridding
Occupation: Communication specialist at a government agency and the owner of Atelier
Favourite cuisine: Definitely Emirati - harees is my favourite dish
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
