Today’s intensifying rivalry between the United States and China had an improbable genesis 50 years ago when nine young Americans arrived in Beijing with a far from globe-shaking role — to play table tennis. The fact that the American visitors were not especially good at their chosen sport, being totally outmatched by their Chinese opponents, was irrelevant. Their mere presence in the People’s Republic of China in April 1971 was a sensation. This was not least for the players themselves, who were thrust unexpectedly and at short notice into an intense media spotlight. Dubbed Ping-Pong Diplomacy, the event changed the…
Nigeria’s Isau Ogunkunle has won a bronze medal at the ongoing Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in France. This has made the country secure the first Singles Paralympic Medal Since Sydney 2000, owing to Ogunkunle’s outstanding performances in the Men’s singles Class 4. Back then, Tajudeen Agunbiade and Alabi Olufemi brought home gold and bronze, respectively, in the Class 9 Men’s Singles. Ogunkunle has reignited the nation’s legacy in the sport, securing Nigeria’s fifth medal at Paris 2024. Although his run for gold came to an end in the semifinals, where he faced Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Kim Young-Gun, Ogunkunle put…
39 Nigeria’s Isau Ogunkunle has secured a bronze medal in para table tennis at the 2024 Paralympic Games, on Saturday. Ogunkunle earned the bronze despite losing to South Korea’s Young-Gun Kim in the semi-final. After an intense match, Ogunkunle won the first set but ultimately lost 3-1 (11-9, 5-11, 4-11, 11-13). Kim, ranked world number 2, advanced to the final. For reaching the semi-final, athletes are guaranteed a bronze medal without the need for a playoff match. With this result, Nigeria’s medal tally at the 2024 Paralympics now stands at five:…
Sports Others Sharath, Manika to lead India’s table tennis squad Asian Table Tennis C’ships is to be held in Astana from Oct 7 to 13 Array ( [galleryId] => 85384d2f35c4287dc73dadd2092bec216ceca1b133f8f6e3 [thumbImage] => https://media.ahmedabadmirror.com/am/uploads/mediaGallery/image/1725474918983.jpg-thmb [largeImage] => https://media.ahmedabadmirror.com/am/uploads/mediaGallery/image/1725474918983.jpg-sldr [fullImage] => https://media.ahmedabadmirror.com/am/uploads/mediaGallery/image/1725474918983.jpg-org [videoObj] => => Veteran Sharath Kamal is the captain of the men’s team [altText] => Veteran Sharath Kamal is the captain of the men’s team Sharath, Manika to lead India’s table tennis squad => Veteran Sharath Kamal is the captain of the men’s team Sharath, Manika to lead India’s table tennis squad => ) Veteran Sharath Kamal is the captain of…
After being penalised a point, Bayley engaged in a long debate with Mikita and also spoke to an off-court official before having to accept the penalty.He also spoke to the umpire afterwards. Asked what he told Mikita, Bayley said: “I said, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s the Paralympic final. It’s difficult to take, I’m gutted and I’m emotional, it’s difficult to talk logically.”Bayley resolved to return for the next Paralympics and go for gold in Los Angeles in 2028.”I’m good enough to win a Paralympic Games – 100% [will go for LA 2028], I just need to get…
Table tennis is the game of the youth club and the hostel, the campsite and the school gym, the park and the prison. It is also played by elite athletes with rubber wrists and quicksilver reflexes, like 14-year-old British schoolgirl Bly Twomey. (Though, it turns out, elite athletes or not, they still have to crawl under the table to pick up errant balls.)Twomey, the fourth seed, already had a bronze medal, with Fliss Pickard in the WD14 doubles last Thursday, when she walked out for her WS7 singles semi-final against the seventh seed, Turkey’s Kübra Korkut on Thursday.A curtain of…
Quadri Aruna brings much joy with his aggressive forehand top-spins, forehand loops and his majestic presence while competing.The 36-year-old from Nigeria, the highest world ranked player in the Ultimate Table Tennis league in Chennai at No. 20, will be one of the star players, who will be eagerly followed. He has many firsts to his credit — the first African to reach the quarterfinals of Olympics (2016, Rio), the first African to make it to the quarterfinals of World championships (Tunis, 2021), and the first from Africa to enter the World’s top 10 (2022). Quadri hasn’t lost any energy and…
“Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links.” Gwyneth Paltrow is returning to the big screen.The Goop founder will resume her acting career in A24’s Marty Supreme, a drama inspired by pro ping-pong players. The project, confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, also stars Timothée Chalamet, and will be Paltrow’s first film since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.While exciting, the news comes as a surprise. Paltrow previously indicated that she was stepping away from acting to focus on Goop, her lifestyle and wellness brand, which she founded in 2008. “I’m still going to do a little…
Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.ICRA@40: 23–26 September 2024, ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDSIROS 2024: 14–18 October 2024, ABU DHABI, UAEICSR 2024: 23–26 October 2024, ODENSE, DENMARKCybathlon 2024: 25–27 October 2024, ZURICHEnjoy today’s videos!Imbuing robots with “human-level performance” in anything is an enormous challenge, but it’s worth it when you see a robot with the skill to interact with a human on a (nearly) human level. Google DeepMind has…
He may be on the verge of an Oscar nomination for his transformation into Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown (and yes, I say that based purely on the trailer—what of it?), but Timothée Chalamet doesn’t seem content to rest on his laurels even now: to wit, his forthcoming part in a zippy drama about a pro ping pong player, directed by Good Time and Uncut Gems’s Josh Safdie and co-starring a certain Academy Award-winning wellness mogul.Penned by the filmmaker alongside his frequent collaborator Ronald Bronstein, and co-produced by Chalamet and beloved indie label A24, the new release will be…