Day 9 - Experiences from 2014 Commonwealth Games - Pierre-Luc Theriault
How has the experience been at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow for you? It has been a good experience for me, after PanAm 2011, this is my second big games. It is always different to play in games, because there is so many other sports are with you in the village. Every medal is also more valuable.
What was your best moment? During the double tournament, when we played against Australia, we knew it would be a tuff much, but what was exciting, some Canadians where cheering for us. As it turned it, it was the Sports Minister and his staff.
A little girl came to you, asking for an autograph. How was that? It is not so common in our sport that people come and ask for autographs. So it was pretty cool that she came to us. It felt very good to sign this autograph for her.
What is happening next? Tomorrow I am going back to my hometown, then some relaxing for the next 10 days. After that, on the 17th I will be training for the North-American Championships and it will be very interesting to see how we will play with the new ball.
Day 9 - Congratulations to the Bronze Medal winner in the Women’s Double, Anqi Luo & Mo Zhang!!!
"We’ve been waiting for this Commonwealth Games medal for more than 10 years. The medal is so important for the team. We know that’s tough for us. We always get the bad draw in the team event but we still fight, we still try to do our best on the other events.
In all our [other] events we lost in quarter final so that’s why we have so much pressure here.
I looked calm but can you imagine? Anqi is playing, my daughter, so how nervous I was? I had be calm to the players and then I had to tell a solution to them.
We changed the strategy. I know why sometimes they weren’t successful because of the nerves, the mental, because I know the players. I try to find a solution.
I’m so proud of her because I was so nervous as a mom."
-Coach Junya Chen on coaching daughter Anqi to bronze in table tennis Women’s Doubles
Day 8 - Canada’s table tennis team had a busy day Thursday
Canada’s table tennis team had a busy day Thursday, playing 13 matches. 3 times in the quarter finals, what a great showdown for the Canadian Team. The last Canadian Team standing is the women double on Saturday, August 2nd, going for a medal is Mo Zhang and Anqi Luo.
In mixed doubles fourth round, Eugene Wang (Ottawa, Ont.) and Mo Zhang (Vancouver, B.C.) beat Singapore 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-9) and advanced to the quarter finals. Andre Ho (Richmond, B.C.) and Anqi Luo (Mississauga, Ont.) lost to England 3-2 (8-11, 4-11, 11-4, 11-7, 3-11) and did not advance.
In men’s doubles third round, Ho and Pierre-Luc Thériault (Rimouski, Que.) played Australia and won 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8).
In women’s singles third round, Zhang played Karen Li of New Zealand and won 4-0 (11-5, 12-10, 11-2, 11-7). Luo played India’s Mankia Batra and lost 4-2 (13-11, 7-11, 11-8, 2-11) and did not advance.
In men’s singles first round, Ho played Sri Lanka’s Udaya Ranasingha and won 4-2 (11-5, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9). Thériault played Daniel O’Connell of Wales and won 4-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6).
In women’s doubles second round Luo and Zhang played Guernsey’s Alice Loveridge and Dawn Morgan, winning 3-0 (12-10, 11-3, 11-7).
In mixed doubles quarter final Wang and Zhang lost to England 3-2 (4-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8, 8-11) and did not advance.
In men’s doubles quarter finals, Ho and Thériault lost to Singapore 1-3 (7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11) and did not advance.
In women’s singles quarter finals, Zhang lost to Singapore 4-1 (9-11, 6-11, 11-5, 9-11, 9-11) and did not advance.
In men’s singles second round, Ho lost to Gavin Rumgay of Scotland 4-1 (8-11, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 13-15) and did not advance. Also in men’s singles second round, Wang played against Marios Yiangou of Cyprus and won 4-1 (19-17, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10).
Day 7 - Table Tennis Mixed Doubles Hopes Alive after Canadians beat Aussies, Kiwis
Canada's hopes in table tennis mixed doubles will live another day after two Canadian combinations won both their morning matches as well as both their afternoon matches Wednesday, earning berths in the fourth round set for Thursday.
Wednesday morning, Eugene Wang (Ottawa, Ont.) and Mo Zhang (Vancouver, B.C.) beat Mauritius 3-0 (11:3, 11:7, 11:2) while teammates Andre Ho (Richmond, B.C.) and Anqi Luo (Mississauga, Ont.) beat Botswana 3-0 (11:1, 11-4, 11-2). In the afternoon, Wang and Zhang beat Australia 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 15-13) while Ho and Luo beat New Zealand 3-0 (13-11, 11-5, 11-6). The afternoon matches were closer than the 3-0 score suggests. "It looks easy, 3-0, but the last two sets we won by just two points so I wouldn't say it was easy," said Wang. "The feeling is coming slowly, but we're still not playing our best yet."
Luo and Ho said they started off nervously as they often do, but then managed to relax and play well. "I think that the chemistry between me and my partner was quite good today," said Ho. "I think we played like we normally do in training. We were quite nervous at the beginning but after we got the rhythm we were more relaxed, it was just like another match. Obviously the next round, we're playing a seed higher than us so it's going to be difficult, but at the same time it's no pressure on us. We're the ones that are going to try to make an upset, so for us no pressure."
Canada's third mixed doubles combination of Pierre-Luc Thériault (Rimouski, Que.) and Betty Guo (Edmonton, Alta.) did not advance after losing to Wales 3-0 in the second round this morning.
In men’s doubles second round, Ho and Thériault played Vanuatu and won 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-4).
In women’s singles second round, Luo defeated Ziyu Zhang of Australia in a close match 4-3 (6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 12-10, 4-11, 11-5).
Day 6 - What a great day for our Canadian Team in Glasgow at the 2014 Commonwealth Championships.
No set was lost for any of our players, what an amazing start into the singles event.
In men’s singles table tennis action, Pierre-Luc Thériault (Rimouski, Que.)
 beat Alan Lin of Vanuatu 4-0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-6, 11-6) and then defeated Gilton Chelibe of Uganda 4-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-4, 11-2). Andre Ho (Richmond, B.C.) defeated David Loi of Papua New Guinea 4-0 (11-1, 11-1, 11-1, 11-4) and then defeated Romano Spencer of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 4-0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-3, 11-3). In women's singles, Betty Guo (Edmonton, Alta.) defeated Antonette Riley of Barbados 4-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-7, 11-2) and then beat Celia Baah-Danso of Ghana 4-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7).
Day 4 & 5 - The 2014 Commonwealth Games from the perspective of our Canadian Umpires in Glasgow
Greg Dzioba, Chandra Madhosingh and Gregory Chan are our officials at these 2014 Games. It is a different perspective from seeing the matches as an official, but still an amazing experience to be part of it. Gregory was umpiring at our Men’s Team game against Australia (3-1 win for Australia), while Greg was in charge of racket control on that afternoon.
It was impressive to see that with just a little bit of advice what the volunteers were able to do and that the testing of the rackets could be done in just under 12 minutes. We might not have won the gold medal in the Men’s Team event, but we still had an Official representing Canada. Greg was umpiring the Men’s Team Final between Singapore and England, while Singapore got the title for the 3rd time in a row.
"It will be getting busier over the next few days with the beginning of the Doubles and Single events starting on Tuesday, July 29th 2014 here in Glasgow. Great Volunteers, a very nice venue, great participants and some happy spectators. What a wonderful experience to be here in Glasgow.” - Greg Dzioba
Day 3 - Canadians off the courts – for now – at Scotstoun Sports Complex
The maple leaf will take a pause from competition at Scotstoun Sports Complex for the next few days. Home to both squash and table tennis, Canadians have been knocked out of the events in progress and are now awaiting their next events in both sports.
In women’s table tennis quarterfinals Saturday morning, it took just an hour for No. 1 ranked Singapore to defeat the Canadian team 3-0 (3:0, 3:0, 3:0). The Canadian team is Betty Guo (Edmonton, Alta.), Anqi Luo (Mississauga, Ont.) and Mo Zhang (Vancouver, B.C.).
“We got a very bad draw to play Singapore, as the no.1 seed and extremely strong team,” said coach Junya Chen. “We hope that we can do something in the other events.”
Canada’s men’s table tennis team was eliminated Friday in preliminary rounds. Both men’s and women’s table tennis squads now have a few days off before singles competition begins July 29, mixed doubles begins July 30 and men’s and women’s doubles begin July 31.
Day 2 - Women’s Table Tennis Team Advances to Quarterfinals
After a successful day Thursday with wins over both Papua New Guinea (3-0) and Guyana (3-1), the Canadian women’s tennis table team of Betty Guo (Edmonton, Alta.), Anqi Luo (Mississauga, Ont.) and Mo Zhang (Vancouver, B.C.), has advanced to the quarterfinals. Canada will play defending Commonwealth Games gold medallist Singapore on Fri. July 26 at 9:30 a.m. at Scotstoun Sports Complex.
The Canadian men's table tennis team of Andre Ho (Richmond, B.C.), Pierre-Luc Thériault (Rimouski, Que.) and Eugene Zhen Wang (Ottawa, Ont.) battled Australia for nearly three hours before losing 3 - 1 (3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 3-0). Canada’s men’s team does not advance to the quarter finals.
Anqi Luo on today's win and advancing to quarterfinals
I won all my singles matches and for doubles, it was a really close match. I think we both played our best, but this is our first time pairing up together as doubles partners [with Betty Guo] so we don’t have as much chemistry I guess, but we still played well.
Are you looking forward to tomorrow? Yes, I’m excited.
Coach Junya Chen on today's and playing Singapore in the quarterfinals
We played well. We lost to Malaysia [Thursday], a very close game. [Singapore tomorrow] are also the world champion team. (The Canadian women’s team now has three wins, one loss so far in Glasgow.)
What are you going to tell the girls to prepare?
I’m going to have a meeting with the girls tonight to tell them how to prepare their strategy for the game and encourage them to FIGHT tomorrow.
Day 1 - Men’s, Women’s Table Tennis Teams Win, Lose in Qualifying Rounds
Team play began on Thursday with Canada’s women’s and men’s teams both playing qualifying round matches at Scotstoun Sports Complex.
The women’s team of Betty Guo (Edmonton, Alta.), Anqi Luo (Mississauga, Ont.) and Mo Zhang (Vancouver, B.C.), easily defeated Jamaica 3-0 (3:0, 3:0, 3:0) in the morning. In the afternoon they had a tougher go of it, but pushed Malaysia to five matches before losing 3-2 (3:2, 0:3, 0:3, 3:2, 1:3).
The women’s team’s next match will be Friday July 25 at 9:30 a.m. vs. Papua New Guinea. They then have the potential to play at Vanuatu at 16:00 in the first round, but this will be subject to results on Friday morning.
Canada’s men’s team of Andre Ho (Richmond, B.C.), Pierre-Luc Thériault (Rimouski, Que.) and Eugene Zhen Wang (Ottawa, Ont.) defeated Tanzania 3-0 (3:0, 3:0, 3:0) in their first match of the day.
Then at a late night game in front of a boisterous home crowd, the men battled with Scotland point-for-point in a three-hour contest finally won by Scotland 3-1 (3-0, 1-3, 3-2, 3-2).
“I wish we had played better,” said Thériault. “We were leading and lost a little bit of focus. It was great to play in front of so many people watching.”
The men’s next match will be Friday July 25 at 12:50 vs. Uganda. They will also play at 16:00 on Friday, but the opponent will be determined by results Friday morning.
Day 0 - Opening Day
Canadian Olympians Eugene Wang, Andre Ho and Mo Zhang will guide Canada’s men’s and women’s table tennis teams in to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. “Our younger athletes will face a steep learning curve at the Games,” said Tony Kiesenhofer, director general of Table Tennis Canada. “There are, however, are some legitimate medal chances in the women’s singles for Mo Zhang, the winner of the 2013 Commonwealth Championships in Delhi, India.”
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