LONDON - Table Tennis Canada has nominated four athletes to represent Canada at the London 2012 Olympic Games and they were celebrated in grand style, receiving their official Team jackets from Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the unveiling of Canada Olympic House in London.

 

 

 

 

Andre Ho will be making his first appearance at an Olympic Games this summer in London. Ho qualified for this summer's Olympics in April by winning the first tournament at the North American table tennis qualifier and beating fellow Canadian nominee Pierre-Luc Hinse in a five-game men's final.

"I don't really know how to feel right now," Ho said at the time. "It's been a goal of mine that I've been working on for many years, and for me, it won't sink in for a couple of days." Ho is currently the fifth ranked table tennis player in Canada as of June 1st.

 

Pierre-Luc Hinse will be making his first appearance at an Olympic Games this summer in London.

Hinse earned a spot in this summer's London Games by defeating American Timothy Wang in seven games the final of the second men's qualifying tournament at the North American trials in April. Hinse will join Canadian teammate Andre Ho in London.

In 2011, Hinse captured the North American Championships and the Canadian Championships improving his finish at the North American Championships from 2010, where he finished second. In total, Hinse has captured four singles medals (one gold, two silvers, one bronze) at the North American Championships and three doubles medals (one gold, two bronze).

Hinse also holds a gold medal from the team competition at the 2007 Pan American Games Hinse, who grew up outside Montreal, took up the game when he was nine years old. His father bought a table for the basement and he played with his friends and brother. He bought a racket that came with a coupon for free entry to an under-10 tournament and subsequently won that tournament.

Hinse is currently the third ranked table tennis player in Canada as of June 1st.

 

Mo Zhang is returning to the Olympic Games for the second time in her young career.

Zhang is coming off a 2011 season that saw her compete at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico and win gold in the singles event.

Zhang has dominated North American competition over her career. She has won singles gold three times at the North American Championships (2009-2011) and gold in women's doubles in 2006. She has also added three silver medals in the singles event (2006-

2008).

In the North American Cup in 2011 she won silver in 2011 and in 2012 women's singles.

Zhang won her first major international medal at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro winning silver in the women's team event.

 

Eugene Wang is the No. 1 ranked table tennis player in North America and will be making his first appearance at an Olympic Games at London 2012. He became a Canadian citizen in June 2012, in time to represent Canada in London.

His to date greatest success cam on the ITTF World Tour where he finished 5th losing only to World #1 Ma Long of China. Wang recently won the 2012 Butterfly Cary Cup and has been building on an impressive 2011 that saw him crowned as champion of the Badger Open, the L. A. Open and finalist of the U. S. Open.

In 2010, Wang captured the Canadian Chinese Table Tennis Association Cup. He was the 2008 Butterfly Cary Cup runner-up and the 2007 Canada Cup Finals Men's Singles Champion.