Family gatherings? Fireworks? Red pockets? Not enough!!! Calgary Table Tennis lovers celebrated the very first day of 2017 lunar new year at Table Tennis courts!

Table Tennis, or ping pong, is not a stranger for most of Canadian Chinese, especially the first generation of immigrants. For them, table tennis will forever link with the memories of their childhood. To promote the sport and share this magic sport that bridged China and western countries in the late 1970s, Geng Table Tennis Academy and Yu Feng Chinese School organized the 1st Calgary ‘Hai Nan Airline’ Cup Table Tennis Tournament with the huge support from the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Calgary.

Hai Nan Airline, which pioneered the Calgary – Beijing airline route, is the title sponsor for this spectacular event. Canadian Chinese, especially those who live in Alberta province, benefited grealy from the Calgary-Beijing airline route. Hometown is not that far any more, and stampede and rocky mountains are one flight away from China.

Table tennis master, former world champion, GTTA Coach Lijuan Geng went to Calgary in the summer of 2015 to promote the sport to the youth and never stop from then. From the first group of ping pong kids in Calgary to now, it is not only the result of her team’s tireless efforts but also the support that she received from organizations like Yu Feng Chinese school. Yu Feng Chinese school, established in 1997, is now housing over 1000 students who are interested in learning Chinese.

The event attracted close to 100 participants. Yunhui Liu, Eddy Chen, Tony Shang and Horon Guo (GTTA) captured gold medals in Open A, Open B, Youth A and Youth B categories respectively.

GTTA would like to thank Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Calgary, Hai Nan Airline, Yu Feng Chinese school, Calgary Chinese Dongbei Association, Calgary Ringtorch Sport Association, Canada Eight Eight news, Alberta Chinese TV – WOW TV, Calgary Life, Hai Tao Geng Realtor, Yinhe Canada and all the volunteers for the tournament!!

We are looking forward to the next tournament in Calgary!

Photo credit: Chen Yang & Qian