According to Wikipedia, Ping-Pong (or formally known as Table Tennis) is the most popular racquet sport in the World and if you want to start following it, the Asian Cup is probably a look at the best players in the World. The 23rd Asian Cup was held in Guangzhou China last weekend, and it was a romantic finish for boyfriend Zhang Jike and his girlfriend Liu Shiwen as they emerged Gold Medal winners in the men and women’s tournament.
Loving Leaders
Zhang, 22 years old, and Liu, 18, both won their own separate tounament of 16 top-seeded table tennis stars from all over Asia. It started with a round robin play and then 3 elimination matches. Games were played up to 11 points and matches were played best-of-7 series. Zhang won his final easily 4-0, while Liu finished in a longer battle 4-2.
1-on-1 Lebron
Lebron James
The Asian Cup is one of the top 3 table tennis competitions in Asia, and the prize money exceeds $100,000 and the 1st place finishers will get $10,000 each. The popularity of table tennis in China is probably similar to basketball in the USA. It might make you snicker to compare Lebron James to Zhang Jike, but I’m sure that Zhang has a very large group of fans that would like to see Lebron try to play some Ping-Pong against Zhang.
Open to Olympics
Asian Cup 2010
It’s hard to follow table tennis here in America. The sport is laughed at because most American Sports are very physical, dangerous, and very strenuous. Sports like table tennis are seen as something you would play just for fun at a pool party or when you’re supposed to be doing homework. But think about this… it is an Olympic Sport and if you were really good at it, you could win a Gold Medal for your country. Maybe a video of some great table tennis action can inspire you…
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