Inaugural TTA Tour event in Sydney marks return to national competition for Australian players

Olympian Chris Yan and young talent Yangzi Liu were the winners of the Open Single titles at the inaugural Table Tennis Australia (TTA) Tour event in Sydney.

It was an action-packed weekend at Sydney Olympic Park, with players from all age categories descending on the Indoor Sports Halls for the new event, organised by TTA to give Australian athletes an opportunity to compete in a national-level competition.

Yangzi Liu was the stand out competitor, taking home gold in the Girls Under 19 and Under 21 categories before defeating Tokyo Olympics-bound Michelle Bromley on the way to a convincing Women's Open Singles victory.

Not surprisingly, Yangzi was very pleased with her performance.

"I have been putting in the hours in practice and it showed this weekend," she said. "I played well and I am happy with the results."

Men's top seed Chris Yan faced some tough competition in the knock-out rounds of the Open Singles before clawing his way back from 0-2 to defeat Xuqi Lin in an exciting 5-game final. Yan praised Table Tennis Australia's new event, which gave him the chance to return to a competitive environment as he prepares for his second Olympic Games in Tokyo.

"We had not played a national tournament for over a year, so this was a fantastic opportunity for table tennis athletes to come together and compete," he said.

Despite the absence of Victoria-based players due to the 7-day lockdown imposed on the state, National Coaching & Officiating Coordinator Franck Roguiez was excited to see athletes return to competition. For the players of his own club, the Wynnum Table Tennis Association (WTTA), events like the TTA Tour are a great opportunity to measure themselves against the top ranked Australian players.

“We (WTTA) are here to learn. In Queensland we don't always have the opportunity to play against the best players in the country and the TTA Tour is an excellent opportunity for that.”

RESULTS SUMMARY:

Open Men's Singles: Gold - Chris Yan, Silver - Xuqi Lin, Bronze - Kane Townsend. 

Open Women's Singles: Gold - Yangzi Liu, Silver - Tracey Feng, Bronze - Chermaine Chen.

Under 21 Men's Singles: Gold - Hwan Bae, Silver - Bob Liang, Bronze - Chulong Nie.

Under 21 Women's Singles: Gold - Yangzi Liu, Danni-Elle Townsend, Bronze - Celine Chen.

Under 19 Boys Singles: Gold - Hwan Bae, Silver - Clarence Cheng, Bronze - Won Bae.

Under 19 Girls Singles: Gold - Yangzi Liu, Silver - Danni-Elle Townsend, Bronze - Yvonne Liu.

Under 17 Boys Singles: Gold - Hwan Bae, Silver - Jithen Aluwihare, Bronze - Clarence Cheng.

Under 17 Girls Singles: Gold - Yvonne Liu, Silver - Ally Zhang, Bronze - Chloe Cheng.

Under 15 Boys Singles: Gold - Clarence Cheng, Silver - Jeffrey Guo, Bronze - Reyan Vardinejad.

Under 15 Girls Singles: Gold - Yvonne Liu, Silver - Ally Zhang, Bronze - Daisy Xie.

Under 13 Boys Singles: Gold - Stephen Liu, Silver - Juno Choi, Bronze - Leonard Piyachai.

Under 13 Girls Singles: Gold - Daisy Xie, Silver - Cynthia Huang, Bronze - Chloe Cheng. 

Under 11 Boys: Gold - Leonard Piyachai, Silver - Nathan Chan, Bronze - Andrew Li.

Under 11 Girls: Gold - Daisy Xie, Silver - Lily Zhang, Bronze - Zilin Zhang.

Class 1-11 Combined Singles: Gold - Anthony Majtlis, Silver - Jimmy Huo, Bronze - Jessy Chen.