Winging over to Chiba, Japan (a suburb of Tokyo) on a big 747, the excitement started to build. The only thing that would have been better was for Sue to have been able to come. I was seated next to two precocius Japanese girls on their way home.

These upbeat ambassadors set the tone for the whole trip. When I arrived at the site (lower right), one of the first things that struck me was the McDonalds. There was a bazaar outside the hall that gave a festive atmosphere to the tournament.This provided a vehicle of distraction that let you tune into the event itself.

The facility was magnificent. The volunteers and staff that moved in to set up the event could well be envied by any tournament in the world. Only in Japan will you see "Butterfly" logoed semis drive up and unload table tennis equipment at a loading dock. The international umpiring team (2) was top flight.

The 1997 event could be called the "tournament of the chopper". With world class defenders such as Mathew Syed, Ding Song, Hiroshi Shibutani, Jie Schopp, Liu Song, Koji Matsushita 1, 2,3,4, and others, it was a joy to witness. Rarely have such a collection of choppers performed at this high a level.

Ulf Carlsson, former World Champion and now Swedish team coach, saw his group excell. With a powerful group consisting of Waldner, Persson, Karlsson, Von Scheele, and Hakansson on the men's side, it was the least known Hakansson who scored the first big upset beating World #6 Ding Song of China.

The huge 30 meter screens on both ends of the stadium gave the veiwers excellent chances to see the match from any seat. Electronic scoring equipment also added to the ease of viewing. Aside from the brutal heat in the gym due to the players insistance that the A/C be turned off, this was a spectacular event. Europeans made a good showing with many advancing deep into the tournament.

Top players such as Primorac & Saive, Stefan Fetzner, and outstanding doubles teams made the product first rate. USATT presence was felt with Terry umpiring the semis and Tom Miller umpiring the Men's Finals. Perhaps the most surprising was the US finish in 3rd place in the Women's Doubles.

J-O won another one here in Japan. Although he struggled early in the event. His mastery shown through when it counted. China won both the Women's Singles (Wang Nan) and Men's Doubles (Kong Linghui & Liu Guliang). While Korea won the Women's Doubles (Ryu Ji Hye & Park Hye Jung).

Many thanks to Mr. Nobuyuki Shirakawa, Tournament Referee (here seen running "Umpire Bingo") for helping stage such a wonderful event. Next it was on to China!
 

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