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The Ping Pong Diplomats

Tuesday, 24th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

The following was contributed by Beijing resident Michael Pigott. Want to share something going on in your corner of China? Go to our contribute page.
Beijing—Foreign diplomats living in Beijing received a taste of China's national sport when they participated in the 2008 Diplomats' Table Tennis Tournament
The Serbian Embassy made it to the semi-finals.
The Serbian Embassy made it to the semi-finals.
on June 21. Over 50 players from 22 embassies participated in the team, men's singles and women's singles competitions. The tournament, held at the Beijing Gymnasium on Tiyuguan Lu, was chiefly organised by the Ambassador of the Maldives, Ahmed Latheef. Ambassador Ahmed, a self-confessed table tennis addict, proved his prowess by winning the men's singles competition, defeating Russia's Wadim Primak in the final.

The winner of the women's singles competition was Poland's Beata Sudar and the runner-up was the Philippines' Myca Magnolia Fischer. The team competition was taken out by Indonesia, who defeated the tournament's surprise packet Iran in the hard-fought final. The winning Indonesian team comprised two players, Bambang Purstyadi and Firdaus Amir.

The tournament's draw and its referees were organised by the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA), which gave the tournament a professional touch. The holding of the tournament, which carried the theme 'Rally for friendship and harmony', coincided with the 50th day before the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Tags: Chinese Table Tennis Association, Diplomats' Table Tennis Tournament, ping pong, recreation, table tennis