Summer season

It's been a while since I have posted. Right now it's summer in New Zealand. A few of the players are overseas at the moment. These players include Sarah Her Lee, John Cordue, Phillip Xiao, Ollie Scarlet and Zhiyang Chen. It is good to see players working hard and preparing for the table tennis in 2012. In New Zealand I have been training a bit more since my arm is getting better.

In my spare time I am current trying to figure out what are my plans for 2012. My current plans is to create a tutorial website for beginner table tennis players. The web site will team them some basic skills about table tennis and inspire them how to become a better player.

Aaron Gong

World Uni games report

The World University game or Universiade is the second largest multisport event after the Olympics. This year there were 150 countries competing in Shenzen.

After a long 13 hour journey we finally made to the Shenzen Universiade village. The temperature was around 30 degrees Celsius and it was extremely humid. As soon as we got off the bus we were greeted with welcome.  I thought to myself ‘so this is what it feels like to be a superstar’.

we arrived in an environment which we were not previously accustomed to.

Fig 1.1 Inside the stadium marching towards the opening ceremony

One of the most memorable moments during in Shenzen was the opening ceremony when all the New Zealand athletes’ marched on stage while thousands and thousands of crowds cheered and clapped. Another highlight for me was going inside the Shenzen Bay sports centre for the first time. It was the venue where the table tennis competition was held.

Fig 1.2 Competing against a Thailand

In the teams event we played against Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and Spain. In the singles event I played against a player from Vietnam, and a player from Chinese Taipei. After I finished competing we enjoy watching some of the other top country play such as China, Japan, Russia, and France. The crowds were all very involved in every game that China was playing. There was a lot of cheering of “zhong guo dui jia yo” which means “go team china”. It really made me feel like being in a real competition.

Fig 1.3 Athlete apartments

Fig 1.4 Dinning hall

In the village we stayed at apartment blocks with rooms of three athletes. The New Zealand team was on the 7 and 8^th floor of building B2. There were around 88 people including athletes, coaches, and managers. I was staying in a room with other two table tennis players. At the dining hall there was an unlimited supply of food, with great variety. It also included free Mc Donalds. However, none of us ate it until our event was finished.

Overall, the Shenzen Universiade is by far one of the best experience I ever had being a table tennis player. I was proud to be given the opportunity to represent my country and  given the chance to explore the world through my eyes. After this event I have not only gained plentiful experience playing table tennis but also gained experiences about other cultures.

Stay in tuned as I will blog more about my adventures at the world uni games...


...to be continued

Preparation for world uni games 2011

Hi everyone, this is my first post EVER!!! Well, I am just preparing for the 2011 World University games in Shenzen in August. The World University Games is one of the biggest competition in the world. It is only the second largest competition after the Olymics.


I am going to represent New Zealand (NZ) at the games for table tennis. So I am very excited to be selected to attend such a prestigious event. Right now I have been training every single day. This includes training with a partner or going to team training along with going to the gym to work on my strength training. Anyways when I get to China. I will keep everyone updated.

Peace out ^___^
Gong