Back Porch FanHouse http://backporch.fanhouse.com Back Porch FanHouse http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif Back Porch FanHouse http://backporch.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Ma Long Wins English Open, Competitive Table Tennis Is Intensehttp://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/ma-long-wins-english-open-competitive-table-tennis-is-intense/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/ma-long-wins-english-open-competitive-table-tennis-is-intense/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/ma-long-wins-english-open-competitive-table-tennis-is-intense/#commentsFiled under:



If you're like most Americans, you think of ping pong as a leisurely game played in people's basements. But in much of the rest of the world, table tennis is viewed as a highly competitive sport. And as you'll see if you watch some of the highlights from last weekend's English Open -- described as "the Wimbledon of table tennis" -- the sport can be incredibly intense.

The BBC reports on all the action from the English Open, where top seed Ma Long beat last year's table tennis Olympic gold medalist, Ma Lin, for the English Open men's singles title. Chinese players dominated the competition; Long also won the doubles final with partner Wang Liqin, and Guo Yan beat Liu Shiwen in an all-China women's singles final. Only the victory by Kim Kyung Ah and Park Mi Young of South Korea in the women's doubles final prevented a clean sweep by the Chinese.

We Americans, of course, don't much care about all those English Open results, but we should at least appreciate the intensity of the competition. This isn't the ping pong you played in your basement.

Ma Long Wins English Open, Competitive Table Tennis Is Intense originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Michael David SmithWed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST Anna Kournikova Beats Jimmy Fallon in Beer Pong on Late Nighthttp://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/03/26/anna-kournikova-beats-jimmy-fallon-in-beer-pong-on-late-night/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/03/26/anna-kournikova-beats-jimmy-fallon-in-beer-pong-on-late-night/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/03/26/anna-kournikova-beats-jimmy-fallon-in-beer-pong-on-late-night/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Anna Kournikova isn't great at tennis. She was very good at being very attractive and thus very good at garnering attention from the media and endorsers, but never very good at tennis. Unfortunately for Jimmy Fallon, she's pretty decent at beer pong, as he found out last night. Or at least better than Fallon anyway. If it were anyone else, I would bite on "sandbagging," but not with Fallon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my 400-count sheets (pantsless, natch) waiting for Conan to come back.

Anna Kournikova Beats Jimmy Fallon in Beer Pong on Late Night originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Will BrinsonThu, 26 Mar 2009 22:00:00 EST Gold Medal Ping Pong Player Will Get Counseling After His Post-Pee Argumenthttp://backporch.fanhouse.com/2008/10/14/gold-medal-ping-pong-player-will-get-counseling-after-his-post-p/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2008/10/14/gold-medal-ping-pong-player-will-get-counseling-after-his-post-p/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2008/10/14/gold-medal-ping-pong-player-will-get-counseling-after-his-post-p/#commentsFiled under:

Yesterday, Brinson reported on Wang Hao, the gold medal winning ping pong player from China who was arrested for peeing outside a karaoke club and becoming aggressive. That is, as aggressive as a ping pong player can be.

Do not fret, hopeful Hao fans, because it appears Chinese celebrities aren't too far off from the famous people in this country. Hao is heading to counseling for the pee-punch-proclamation.
Hao will undergo team-mandated counseling after reportedly getting into a fight with a security guard who was trying to stop him from urinating outside a karaoke club.

According to Reuters report, witnesses said Wang emerged drunk from the club last Thursday, attempting to urinate outside the building, then came to blows with the security guard.

"I am the famous Wang Hao! I am the world champion! Does it matter if I beat you?" the 24-year-old said, according to the one witness.
I just wanted to let everyone known that I've been stumped on my Halloween costume for weeks and have now found the perfect outfit. A microphone in one hand, a ping-pong paddle in the other, a matching red and yellow shirt and shorts, and, of course just randomly peeing everywhere, no matter the venue. I hope my mailman wears a back brace for all the party invitations that will be flowing in, no pun intended.

Also, China national team manager Huang Biao said Hao didn't get in a fight.
"There was no drunkenness or brawling. There was just an argument," Biao was quoted as saying in Monday's Shanghai Morning Post.

"Because Wang is a celebrity, the story has been amplified."

I guess the Chinese tabloids are more creative than the ones here in America because I sure would love some fictional story about Lindsay Lohan peeing outside a bowling alley and not about her possibly being engaged to her girlfriend. Booooring.

Gold Medal Ping Pong Player Will Get Counseling After His Post-Pee Argument originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Lindsay LohanLindsayLohanWang HaoWangHaoShane BaconTue, 14 Oct 2008 14:04:00 EST Chinese Ping Pong Gold Medalist Pees Outside Bar, Reportedly Fights Bouncerhttp://backporch.fanhouse.com/2008/10/13/chinese-ping-pong-gold-medalist-pees-outside-bar-reportedly-fig/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2008/10/13/chinese-ping-pong-gold-medalist-pees-outside-bar-reportedly-fig/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2008/10/13/chinese-ping-pong-gold-medalist-pees-outside-bar-reportedly-fig/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The problem with being a celebrity, here in America or anywhere really, is that people are always looking to bust you doing stuff. Perhaps you're Alex Rodriguez enjoying an evening of Madonna's music. Or Britney Spears trying to sneak 40 gallons of Red Bull and 3,000 bags of Cheetos into her home under the cover of dark*.

Or, maybe you're just a gold medalist ping pong baller from China who wanted to urinate outside a karaoke club.
China's national table tennis team will give Olympic medalist Wang Hao counselling after he reportedly got into a fight with a security guard for trying to stop him from urinating outside a karaoke club.

Local media reports last week quoted witnesses as saying that the two-time Olympic singles silver medallist had emerged drunk from a karaoke club on Thursday and come to blows with the security guard when he tried to urinate outside the building.

"I am the famous Wang Hao! I am the world champion! Does it matter if I beat you?" shouted the 24-year-old, according to a witness quoted by the papers.
Now, I understand that there may be some serious translation issues at hand here. But I really hope not, because I love the idea of someone famous yelling "Do you know who I am???" as they're being dragged away from the front of a karaoke club.

And in fairness, the manager of the Chinese team has said there was no fight and that Wang had "just an argument" with the bouncer ... although there hasn't been any denial of the urination. Wang is also blaming the incident on the loss he took this past weekend. So, the lesson: as always, avoid urinating outside nightclubs.

*May not have actually happened.

Chinese Ping Pong Gold Medalist Pees Outside Bar, Reportedly Fights Bouncer originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Alex RodriguezAlexRodriguezHao WangHaoWangWang HaoWangHaoWill BrinsonMon, 13 Oct 2008 12:35:00 EST