The STIGA 2013 ITTF Trick Shot Showdown has successfully concluded with Spain's Josep Antón Velázquez's entry being crowned as the world's best trick shot.
The inaugural STIGA Trick Shot showdown was a huge success with over 80 people submitting their best trick shots, which together obtained more than 2 million views on YouTube and YouKu.
Josep's winning trick shot, which involves him serving to a static racket and hitting a return from between his legs to hit a target ball around the net, gathered over 330,000 views in one month, and the technical difficulty in execution impressed both fans and ITTF Expert Panel alike.
On his win, Josep commented: "I can't believe it!!! Thanks to every one, I'm so happy now! My best wishes and thanks to all my supporters, you are awesome guys!"
For his stellar performance, he has won a 7-day trip for 2 persons to Dubai for the 2013 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, happening 9 – 12 January 2014. In addition, he walks away with a one-year sponsorship from STIGA, a world leader in the sport of table tennis for over 60 years.
"STIGA is very proud to have been the official partner of the first STIGA 2013 ITTF Trick Shot Showdown," said STIGA CEO Mats Bandstigen. "We are really looking forward to the future for this amazing event that shows just how incredible and wonderful table tennis is."
"The ITTF is extremely pleased with the overwhelming response to the "Trick Shot" video competition on the ITTF's social media pages," said ITTF President, Adham Sharara. "It is amazing to see the imagination of the participants and how they caught the imagination of the viewers. This was a great experience. I sincerely thank STIGA for supporting this initiative by sponsoring this fun and exciting competition, and I look forward to the next one in 2014."
In addition, special thanks have to be given to Daniel Aranzamendi and the Puerto Rico Table Tennis Federation.
"The Trick shot challenge was based on an idea from our friends in Puerto Rico who had their own version earlier in the year," explained ITTF Marketing Director, Steve Dainton.
"With our growing social media presence and partnership with YouTube it made perfect sense to create an international version. It was great that a progressive thinking company like STIGA partnered with us to bring it to life."
Aptly summed up, he added: "Eighty plus videos, over 2 million YouTube views, some great tricks, some funny videos and some not so good ones, it was truly an amazing response. Stay tuned for the 2014 version where we expect the tricks, props, videos and prizes to get better and better."
Visit http://www.edm.ittf.com/link.php?M=39324&N=286&L=404&F=H for more information and view all the submitted trick shot videos here.
For more information, please contact ITTF Promotion Manager, Matt Pound, at mpound@ittf.com
As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.
These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
