Finalists Decided, a New Look for Zhang Yining?

China’s Zhang Yining is the lady who in recent times has led the world of female table tennis; she’s won just above every accolade there is to win and since 1st January 2003 she has been the player in the number one spot on the ITTF Women’s World Rankings.

She is the player to emulate and could the young lady from Beijing be leading the way in another sphere of the sport?

Could she be a fashion trendsetter?

Well, that could be the case following the Fashion Contest to be held on Sunday 30th September 2007, the last day of the Volkswagen Women’s World Cup in Chengdu, China.

The finalists for the contest which is also sponsored by Volkswagen have now been determined.

No less than thirteen designers and manufacturers will be represented in what proves to be a most interesting event and quite unique in the world of table tennis.

Buzz
“The buzz and excitement for this event is really incredible and somewhat surprising”, said Steve Dainton, TMS International Representative for Asia. “CCTV have now informed me they are very interested to produce the event and include a lot of it within their broadcast of the Volkswagen Women’s World Cup competition”.

Certainly the fact that the major television network in China is to cover the event is a massive boost for the innovative event.

New
“It is something completely new and out of the box for table tennis”, continued Steve Dainton. “Moreover it is a fantastic extra attraction for the Volkswagen Women’s World Cup, one of the most prestigious events on the ITTF annual Calendar”.

Volkswagen Support
Furthermore, Volkswagen is in total support. “The host of the contest and Show, Volkswagen, is also adding extra value to the contest”, explained Steve Dainton. “Volkswagen has hired some famous Chinese designers who will produce a concept design for the event; a kind of futuristic design that could perhaps one day be the type of clothing worn by the top table tennis athletes.”

The support of Volkswagen adds an extra professional dimension to the programme and of course they have a vast reservoir of knowledge when it comes to promotion.

Design
“This will be similar to what we do at major car show exhibitions; that is design and create a concept car that is made only for the car shows and features all the absolute best qualities of a car”, said Philipp Kan, Manager of Sponsoring activities for the Volkswagen China Group. “It may not be realistic for sales but it makes you dream about what is possible.”

Well dreams can become reality. “Therefore we will be creating some table tennis clothing designs that reflects the Volkswagen brand yet at the same time will help the future table tennis stars dream about some really cool and fashionable clothing”, continued Phillip Kan. “We will also be using some very attractive models from China and Europe which I am sure the audience will enjoy!”.

Entrants
The designers and manufacturers who have reached the final stage are as follows:

Manufacturers:< design

Designers: Yuko Yamamoto (Japan) 2 designs, VFP Productions Sarl (Switzerland) two designs, Naomi Yotsumoto (Japan) one design.

By: Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Posted July 2007