Aussie Rules, the Regulation for Success in World Cup Qualification Event

Australia’s William Henzell and Miao Miao won the Men’s and Women’s Singles titles respectively at the Oceania Qualification Tournament in Manukau, New Zealand for the respective World Cup tournaments.

The Volkswagen Women’s World Cup will be staged in the Chinese city of Chengdu from 28th to 30th September whilst the counterpart male event, the Liebherr Men’s World Cup will take place in the Spanish city of Barcelona from 12th to 14th October 2007.

In the finals, William Henzell beat compatriot George Tang to qualify for the Liebherr Men’s World Cup for a third successive year, whilst Miao Miao overcame New Zealand’s Karen Li, the Oceania representative at the Sinkiang Women’s World Cup in 2006.

Delighted
“I’m delighted to have qualified for the Liebherr Men’s World Cup again, it was one of my major goals during my two month stay in Australia”, said William Henzell. “I’m now heading back to Germany where during the coming season I’ll be practising in Frickenhausen; I think last year has really toughened me up as a player.”

No doubt the assessment is accurate, each year William Henzell is more and more competitive. “It will be my first visit ever to Spain”, he continued. “I’m hoping to do better in the event than I have done before.”

Also Pleased
The winner of the Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles events at the recent Australian National Championships, William Henzell was naturally delighted to be once again on duty at one of the world’s major events and so was Miao Miao.

“It was a tough match in the final against Karen, I’m really happy to have qualified and I am looking forward to going to the tournament in China”, said Miao Miao. “It was great having my dad here during this tournament; he gave me a lot of extra confidence and helped me a lot with tactics.”

Wise
Father, who learnt his coaching skills in Tianjin the home of Ma Wenge, is a wise man and he needed to be with Li Chunli coaching younger sister Karen.

Certainly the advice was sound and daughter is now highly motivated. “I’m really looking forward to playing in Chengdu”, added Miao Miao. “It is a great opportunity to play against some of the top players in the World”

Anniversary
The qualifying event was played at the recently completed Manuwera Table Tennis Club in Manukau, New Zealand, being hosted by club President and former ITTF Vice President for Oceania, Geoff Rau.

“It was kind of my dream to get this new facility built using my experience and knowledge from my time with the ITTF”, said Geoff Rau. “The key thing for us is that this is the first major International event to be held in the Manukau area and it’s fantastic that it also corresponds with the sixtieth anniversary of the Manuwera club.”

Opportunity
So, dreams do come true and Geoff Rau was grateful for the opportunity that had been afforded. “I’d like to thank Table Tennis New Zealand”, he said. “Also, I must thank the Oceania Table Tennis Federation for giving us the opportunity to host this event”

Players from five different countries competed: Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Kiribati.

July 07