Table tennis squad look strong ahead of Rio | Australian Olympic Committee

Rio-bound table tennis players Chris Yan and Sally Zhang have warmed up for next month’s Olympics with dominant performances at a national top ten ranking tournament at Tweed Heads.

TABLE TENNIS: Rio-bound table tennis players Chris Yan and Sally Zhang have warmed up for next month’s Olympics with dominant performances at a national top ten ranking tournament at Tweed Heads.

Yan and Zhang, who will marry later this year, did not drop a match all weekend.

Yan beat fellow Australian Olympic team member, David Powell, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 11-5 in the final, while Zhang was too strong for another Olympic squad member, Melissa Tapper, 11-1, 11-9, 8-11, 6-11, 11-5, in the battle for the number one women’s position.

In a minor upset, promising Queensland teenager Jake Duffy beat Rio squad member Heming Hu 9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 14-12, 11-6, 11-9 in the battle for third position.

The only Olympic squad member absent on the weekend was top-ranked women’s player, Jian Fang Lay, who is preparing to compete at her fifth Olympic Games.

The Australian team will spend another 10 days training in Australia before heading to Santiago in Chile for a pre-Olympic camp.

Ross Solly
Table Tennis Australia