34th ITTF ATTU Asian Cup Live. CC By:ATTU
https://www.youtube.com/@attulive6613

By: Aiden Zhao

The 34th ATTU Asian Cup , one of the most prestigious and important Table Tennis tournaments of the year, is starting in Shenzhen, China onFebruary 19th and will run until the 23rd. Many top Table Tennis Players are competing in this tournament, with themen’s world #1 and #2 Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China being the top seeded players. With the retirement of The Goat Ma Long and The Legend Fan Zhendong, these two players will be playing in their first ATTU Asian Cup and in hopes of getting podium prizes. Around 30 different Asian countries are also competing with their top players. Lots of well-known and respected players are competing for the first time after the Paris Olympics, includingTomokazu Harimoto of Japan, and Lin Yun Ju of Taipei, Jang Woojin of Korea.

The group stages will take place across 3 days with the knockout being played in the finals days. The round-robin group stages were the most important for the players to get into a good position for the main draw. There are many amazing and unexpected matches that are going to be played, astable tennis is an amazing sport to be played with thrilling rallies and intense match points. Unlike team sports, Table Tennis requires the efforts of one person alone to fight and win each and every point; playerscan transition from a winning position  to a losing position psometimes within seconds. 

Hong Kong player Wong Chun Ting is shocked to be drawn with the #1 player Lin Shidong. He laughs it off saying this is unlucky but he will give it his all. That is the thing with sports, sometimes the game is in your favour and most of the time it’s not. What makes a great athlete is embracing these setbacks and keeping moving forward. Many players have trained for months for this tournament. Table tennis training is especially difficult and physically demanding. It requires you to move fast and quickly using lots of body strength continuously. The sport is unique because of its incredibly fast speed and spin of the ball. It is difficult for many players to determine the spin of the ball which is a game changer. 

ITTF ATTU Poster. CC:  By: ATTU

https://asia.ittf.com/description?artId=4563

There is a huge pregame sale of merchandise such as Table Tennis balls with players, rackets, and shirts. There will be an autograph session where people can meet these wonderful athletes. Tickets are sold online and at the arena. There are special seating sections where you can watch closeup games and watch players warm up in their training halls.There will also be lots of livestreams on all 3 tables on YouTube all week. Results will be posted on the ITTF-ATTU website where you can check match scores. It is an event you can’t miss!

     Work Cited

“ITTF-ATTU.” Asian Table Tennis Union, https://asia.ittf.com/description?artId=4563. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.

“ATTU Live.” YouTube, uploaded by ATTU Live, https://www.youtube.com/@attulive6613. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.