World Cup 2009
The table tennis Men's World Cup 2009 took place in Moscow, Russia.
But who qualified for this prestigious event?
The World Cup is an invitational event, and was initially for 16 of the World's top players. But 2009 saw a slight change of format and the number of players was increased to 19.
The men and women have separate events, so let's take a look at the 2009 events.
2009 World Cups
The Russian city of Moscow was the venue for the LIEBHERR 2009 Men's World Cup, held from 16-18 October 2009 at the Druzhba Sports Hall inside the famous Luzhniki Complex.
The 2009 Volkswagen Women's World Cup was held in China at the Guangzhou Gymnasium from 10-12 October 2009.
I'll be looking at the men's event here.
So let's see who took part in 2009? ...
The World Cup
The table tennis World Cup was originally for 16 invited players only, but a new format was introduced in 2009.
The number of players was increased from 16 to 19 ... so in addition to the six continental representatives and the host nation's best player, the top 11 players from the World Ranking List were invited, together with the World No.1 ranked Under 18 player as one of the Wild Card selections.
The rules state that not more than two players from any Association can participate unless a third is invited as a "wild card" selection.
So which players took part in 2009? ...
Men's World Cup 2009
The following players took part in the 2009 Men's World Cup ...
| PLAYER | CAPACITY |
| MA, Long (China) | Asian representative |
| BOLL, Timo (Germany) | European representative |
| MATSUMOTO, Cazuo (Brazil) | S. American representative |
| ARUNA, Quadri (Nigeria) | African representative |
| THERIEN, Xavier (Canada) | N. American representative |
| FRANK, Robert (Australia) | Oceania representative |
| SMIRNOV, Alexei (Russia) | Host Association |
| SAMSONOV, Vladimir (Belarus) | World ranking |
| JOO, Se Hyuk (Korea) | World ranking |
| CHEN, Qi (China) | World ranking |
| OH, Sang Eun (Korea) | World ranking |
| MIZUTANI, Jun (Japan) | World ranking |
| MAZE, Michael (Denmark) | World ranking |
| OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij (Germany) | World ranking |
| KREANGA, Kalinikos (Greece) | World ranking |
| SCHLAGER, Werner (Austria) | World ranking |
| CHUAN, Chih-Yuan (Chinese Taipei) | World ranking |
| CHEUN, Yuk (Hong Kong) | World ranking |
| MATSUDAIRA, Kenta (Japan) | Wild card |
Wang Hao, the current holder of the World Cup, declined his invitation as he decided that he needed a rest after a long, tiring season.
So what prize money was on offer? ...
The World Cup prize money
The prize money for the men's table tennis World Cup was
US$ 150,000
This was divided up as follows:
| Winner | US$ 45,000 |
| Runner-up | US$ 25,000 |
| 3rd Place | US$ 15,000 |
| 4th Place | US$ 10,000 |
| Places 5-8 | US$ 6,000 |
| Places 9-12 | US$ 4,000 |
| Places 13-16 | US$ 2,000 |
| Intercontinental Cup | |
| IC Cup Winner | US$ 2,500 |
| IC Cup 2nd Place | US$ 2,000 |
| IC Cup 3rd Place | US$ 1,500 |
| IC Cup 4th Place | US$ 1,000 |
So what's the format for the tournament? ...
The Intercontinental Cup
The playing system has been modified compared to the previous years.
The competition started with the "Intercontinental Cup" - a pre-qualification round.
So, four continental representatives - from Africa, Latin America, North America and Oceania - competed in one group, with the winner of the "Intercontinental Cup" qualifing for the next stage of the event, joining the other 15 players.
| Intercontinental Cup | ||
| WINNER | Result | LOSER |
| MATSUMOTO Cazuo (BRA) | 4-1 | FRANK Robert (AUS) |
| ARUNA Quadri (NGR) | 4-2 | THERIEN Xavier (CAN) |
| MATSUMOTO Cazuo (BRA) | 4-1 | THERIEN Xavier (CAN) |
| ARUNA Quadri (NGR) | 4-0 | FRANK Robert (AUS) |
| MATSUMOTO Cazuo (BRA) | 4-2 | ARUNA Quadri (NGR) |
| THERIEN Xavier (CAN) | 4-3 | FRANK Robert (AUS) |
| Intercontinental Cup | |
| IC Cup Winner | MATSUMOTO Cazuo (BRA) |
| IC Cup 2nd Place | ARUNA Quadri (NGR) |
| IC Cup 3rd Place | THERIEN Xavier (CAN) |
| IC Cup 4th Place | FRANK Robert (AUS) |
The remaining 16 players are then seeded into four groups.
Each player competes against the other three players in his group and matches are the best of seven sets.
The winner and runner-up of each group then advance to the quarter finals whereupon the competition will be a straight knock-out, best of seven sets.
So the World Cup groups were ...
Group A
- MA, Long (China)
- OH, Sang Eun (Korea)
- SCHLAGER, Werner (Austria)
- MATSUDAIRA, Kenta (Japan)
Group B
- BOLL, Timo (Germany)
- JOO, Se Hyuk (Korea)
- KREANGA, Kalinikos (Greece)
- SMIRNOV, Alexei (Russia)
Group C
- SAMSONOV, Vladimir (Belarus)
- CHEN, Qi (China)
- CHEUN, Yuk (Hong Kong)
- MATSUMOTO, Cazuo (Brazil)
Group D
- OVTCHAROV, Dimitrij (Germany)
- MAZE, Michael (Denmark)
- MIZUTANI, Jun (Japan)
- CHUAN, Chih-Yuan (Chinese Taipei)
Results for World Cup 2009
Friday/Saturday
16/17 October 2009
Group A
| WINNER | Result | LOSER |
| MA Long | 4-0 | SCHLAGER Werner |
| MATSUDAIRA Kenta | 4-3 | OH Sang Eun |
| OH Sang Eun | 4-3 | MA Long |
| SCHLAGER Werner | 4-1 | MATSUDAIRA Kenta |
| MA Long | 4-0 | MATSUDAIRA Kenta |
| OH Sang Eun | 4-1 | SCHLAGER Werner |
Group A winner = OH Sang Eun
Group A runner-up = MA Long
Group B
| WINNER | Result | LOSER |
| BOLL Timo | 4-2 | KREANGA Kalinikos |
| SMIRNOV Alexei | 4-3 | JOO Se Hyuk |
| BOLL Timo | 4-2 | JOO Se Hyuk |
| KREANGA Kalinikos | 4-1 | SMIRNOV Alexei |
| BOLL Timo | 4-1 | SMIRNOV Alexei |
| JOO Se Hyuk | 4-3 | KREANGA Kalinikos |
Group B winner = BOLL Timo
Group B runner-up = KREANGA Kalinikos
Group C
| WINNER | Result | LOSER |
| SAMSONOV Vladimir | 4-1 | CHEUNG Yuk |
| CHEN Qi | 4-0 | MATSUMOTO Cazuo |
| SAMSONOV Vladimir | 4-3 | CHEN Qi |
| CHEUNG Yuk | 4-1 | MATSUMOTO Cazuo |
| SAMSONOV Vladimir | 4-0 | MATSUMOTO Cazuo |
| CHEN Qi | 4-2 | CHEUNG Yuk |
Group C winner = SAMSONOV Vladimir
Group C runner-up = CHEN Qi
Group D
| WINNER | Result | LOSER |
| OVTCHAROV Dimitrij | 4-2 | MAZE Michael |
| MIZUTANI Jun | 4-3 | CHUANG Chih-Yuan |
| MAZE Michael | 4-1 | MIZUTANI Jun |
| OVTCHAROV Dimitrij | 4-3 | CHUANG Chih-Yuan |
| MAZE Michael | 4-2 | CHUANG Chih-Yuan |
| MIZUTANI Jun | 4-3 | OVTCHAROV Dimitrij |
Group D winner = OVTCHAROV Dimitrij
Group D runner-up = MAZE Michael
Knock-out stage
Saturday 17 October 2009
Quarter Finals
| WINNER | Result | LOSER |
| OH Sang Eun | 4-2 | KREANGA Kalinikos |
| CHEN Qi | 4-3 | MAZE Michael |
| SAMSONOV Vladimir | 4-1 | OVTCHAROV Dimitrij |
| MA Long | 4-2 | BOLL Timo |
Sunday 18 October 2009
Semi Finals
| WINNER | Result | LOSER |
| CHEN Qi | 4-3 | OH Sang Eun |
| SAMSONOV Vladimir | 4-3 | MA Long |
Sunday 18 October 2009
Bronze Medal match
| BRONZE MEDALLIST | Result | LOSER |
| MA Long | 4-1 | OH Sang Eun |
| 9-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 |
Sunday 18 October 2009
Final
| GOLD MEDALLIST | Result | SILVER MEDALLIST |
| SAMSONOV Vladimir | 4-1 | CHEN Qi |
| 11-4, 5-11, 11-7, 11-5, 13-11 |
2009 Medal Winners
Chen Qi, Vladimir Samsonov, Ma Long
More information on the World Cup
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