Browsing: Pan

The word on Rohl is wholly positive, though. Players talk at length about his many strengths. Barry Bannan says he’s the best manager he’s ever played for.

It’s not the same, but he has operated successfully in a demanding regime before. In Sheffield, before he was appointed, the team was in the grip of the worst league start in more than 150 years.

He had an owner, Chansiri, who was, to put it kindly, eccentric. He had fans in uproar over all manner of things. He had players who were not only demoralised but also unpaid at times.

So, though Rohl is only 36, he’s had experience of football’s turbulence. He’s young, but he may not be wet behind the ears. You’d hope not, for his sake. Once a defender, he was invalided out of the game with an ACL injury at 21. It takes talent and drive to do the things he has done since then.

Every Rangers fan will know the outline of his story, the assistant manager positions he held at RB Leipzig, Southampton, Bayern Munich and Germany.

He has said before that he doesn’t do dogma and is not a slave to any one system. He’s flexible, be it 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3, 4-4-1-1 or any other formation. It would appear that he’s tried them all at one time or another depending on the challenge staring him in the face.

There’s enough testimony out there about the endless hours he put in at Sheffield Wednesday and the improvement he made to the players he had – Djeidi Gassama, now at Rangers, being one of many.

The fans liked and admired him. He kept Wednesday up when most people had abandoned all hope. He got them to 12th the following season with a side high on energy and togetherness despite Chansiri-inspired mayhem behind the scenes.

The supporters didn’t want him to leave at the end of his second season in July this year, but thought he was better off out of the basket case.

He cited financial issues and a total breakdown in communication with Chansiri as the reason for a mutually agreed contract termination.

Rohl says the scale of the challenge at Rangers is part of the appeal, which is what you would expect him to say, but fans have heard too much chat from too many managers to be comforted by fighting talk.

Win games and he can be as quiet as a Trappist monk. Don’t win games and the eloquence of the greatest orator will not save him. It was ever thus.

Source link

October 15, 2025

(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT)

Hugo Calderano topped Kanak Jha in the Men’s Final and Adriana Diaz’s upset in the Women’s Final blocked a Brazil sweep of singles titles as action continued today in the ITTF Pan American Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Both the Semifinals and Finals were played on Wednesday.  In Men’s Singles, top seed Hugo Calderano won three games before Nicolas Burgos mounted his comeback.  In the end, the final blow was an 11-5 win in the sixth game giving Calderano a 4-2 win.  USA’s Kanak Jha dominated the other Semifinal with a 4-0 win over Horacio Cifuentes of Argentina.  The Final was played a few hours later, and it took Jha several games to match Calderano’s energy.  Calderano won two games easily 11-6 and 11-6 before three tight games.  Jha won the third game 11-9, Calderano won the fourth game 12-10, and Calderano closed out the match with an 11-9 win in the fifth (a 4-1 win).

The story of the Women’s draw is the dominant performance of Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz.  Diaz won all four of her matches 4-0.  Diaz entered the event as the second seed behind Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi.  In fact, the top four seeds each advanced to the Semifinals.  Takahashi Bruna defeated Canada’s Mo Zhang 4-2 in the top half of the draw.  It was at that point that Diaz started her amazing final run – defeating USA’s Lily Zhang (the 3rd Seed) 4-0 in the Semifinal and then dominating Takahashi 4-0 in the Final.

The Doubles Finals have already been played.  The Brazilian team of Leonardo Iizuka and Guilherme Teodoro won Men’s Doubles.  The Argentinian team of Lucia Cordero and Hidalynn Zapata won Women’s Doubles.   In Mixed Doubles, it was Brazil again – the two top seeded Singles players teaming up with Hugo Calderano and Bruna Takahashi taking the title.

The Teams competition begins tomorrow, with the Finals scheduled for this weekend.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.

Share the post “Pan Am Championships: Calderano and Diaz Win Singles Titles”

Source link

October 14, 2025

(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT)

Singles started on Sunday, with top seeds in action on Monday. at the ITTF Pan American Championships in Rock Hill, SC.  Top seed Hugo Calderano won his first two matches 4-0 and 4-1 to advance to face USA’s Sid Naresh in one Quarterfinal matchup.  In the second section of the draw, USA’s Nandan Naresh fell to Nicolas Burgos and Canada’s Eugene Wang fell to Brazil’s Felipe Arado to set up a Burgos-Arado matchup on Tuesday.

In the bottom half of the draw Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes topped Puerto Rico’s Angel Naranjo 4-2 and Brazil’s Leonardo Iizuka defeated USA’s Jishan Liang – leaving Cifuentes and Iizuka to battle Tuesday afternoon.  And in the bottom section of the draw, USA’s Kanak Jha defeated Brazil’s Guilherme Teodoro 4-2 and Gustavo Gomez of Chile defeated Marcos Madrid 4-2 to set up the final Quarterfinal matchup (Jha-Gomez).

In Women’s Singles, 7 of the top 8 seeds advanced to the Quarters.  Top seeded Bruna Takahashi will face USA’s Jessica Reyes Lai, USA’s Sally Moyland will face Canada’s Mo Zhang, and USA’s Lily Zhang will face Daniela Ortega of Chile.  Second seed Adriana Diaz easily advanced winning her two matches 4-0 and 4-0.  Diaz will face Chile’s Zhiying Zeng, who upset Brazil’s Giulia Takahashi 4-0.

The Quarterfinals of Singles and Doubles will be played Tuesday, with Team events starting at the end of the week and extending into the weekend.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.

Share the post “Pan Am Championships: Early Action”

Source link

October 12, 2025

(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT)

The 2025 ITTF Para Pan American Championships wrapped up this weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  It delivered four days of fierce competition among the Hemisphere’s best para athletes with players from the US battling the top players from Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica and many others.

Winners qualified directly for the 2026 World Para Championships – and that was the case for three Americans: Jenson Van Emburgh, Ian Seidenfeld, and Tahl Leibovitz.  In Men’s Singles Class 3, Van Emburgh logged a 3-1 win over Gabriel Copola of Argentina in the Semifinals and a 3-1 win over Brazil’s Welder Camargo Knaf in the Final.  Ian Seidenfeld upset the top seeded Ignacio Torres of Chile in the Semifinals before blanking Chile’s Matias Pino 3-0 in the Final of Class 6.   And in Class 9, Tahl Leibovitz defeated Argentina’s Eithan Skliarsky 3-0 in the Semifinals and then topped Lucas Dos Santos Carvalho of Brazil in the Final.  Each of these three has now punched their ticket for Glasgow, Scotland – the host of the World Para Championships this Summer.

USA had a number of other participants as well.  Samuel Altshuler was 1-1 in Men’s Singles Class 6, losing in the Semifinals.  Logan Watson also fell in the Semifinals of his event – Men’s Singles Class 9.  Randall Medcalf was less fortunate in Men’s Singles Class 10, losing in the Quarterfinals to second-place finisher from Chile.

Another  American Gold Medal went to Tahl Leibovitz and Logan Watson in Men’s Doubles Class MD 18 as they defeated the top seeded Brazilian team in the Semifinals and the second seeded (also) Brazilian team in the Final.

Solid results across the board from TeamUSA – and one more step for three great candidates for Medals at the World Para Championships next Summer.

For full results and match details, visit the official ITTF results page.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.

Share the post “ITTF Para Pan Am Championships: Van Emburgh, Seidenfeld, and Leibovitz Win Gold”

Source link

September 30, 2025

(By Edgardo Vazquez)

As a Butterfly America coach, I am very proud to share what we experienced at the Asunción 2025 Junior Pan American Games, where our Puerto Rican delegation once again demonstrated the high level and future of Puerto Rican table tennis.

It was a tournament filled with excitement, dedication, and results that reflect the efforts of our athletes:

Gold
• Edmarie León – Women’s Singles

Silver
• Krystal Meléndez / Enrique Ríos – Mixed Doubles
• Edmarie León / Krystal Meléndez – Women’s Doubles
• Steven Moreno / Enrique Ríos – Men’s Team

Bronze
• Edmarie León / Steven Moreno – Mixed Doubles
• Steven Moreno – Men’s Singles
• Edmarie León / Krystal Meléndez – Women’s Team

TOTAL: 7 MEDALS
(1 Gold – 3 Silver – 3 Bronze)

These results are a clear sign that Puerto Rico continues to grow and consolidate itself as one of the youth powers on the continent. Every medal is backed by hard work, discipline, sacrifice, and dreams that are gradually coming true.

I want to give a special thanks to Butterfly for all the support they provide to us as a Federation, to our athletes, and to me as a coach. These achievements confirm that when support, commitment, and talent come together, great things can be achieved.

Thank you to our athletes for representing us with such passion and to all of Puerto Rico for the support. This is just the beginning of what we can achieve together.

We continue to dream big and work wholeheartedly for our island.

 

  Stay “In The Loop†with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.

Share the post “Seven Medals For Puerto Rico At The Junior Pan American Games”

Source link

September 30, 2025

(By Bowmar Sports/ Edgardo Vazquez)

We are proud to share the participation of Puerto Rico’s youth delegation in the Rosario 2025 Pan American Youth Championships, where our athletes demonstrated talent, passion, and dedication, achieving historic results for the island.

Our delegation was composed of:

• Edgardo Vázquez (coach sponsored by Butterfly America)
• Edmarie León (player sponsored by Butterfly America)
• Krystal Meléndez
• Carlos Gracia
• Alahia Medina
• Yadiel López
• Valentina Dávila
• Jerall Montijo
• Enrique Ríos
• Ariana Aponte
• Aurora Bonome
• Owen Shemesh (player sponsored by Butterfly America)
• Sergio Pérez (player sponsored by Butterfly America)
• Brianna Rodríguez
• Matthew Cao
• Esteban Ayala
• Naimaris Hernández
• Alexis Pietri
• Edgarz de Jesús

Highlighted Results:

Boy and Gir Teams Event

🥈 Junior Girls†Team – Puerto Rico Puerto Rico runners-up
🥈 Junior Boys†Team – Puerto Rico runners-up

Doubles and Mixed Event
🥇 Junior Mixed Doubles – Steven Moreno (PUR) & Edmarie León (PUR)
🥉 Junior Mixed Doubles – Enrique Ríos (PUR) & Krystal Meléndez (PUR)
🥇 Junior Girls†Doubles – Edmarie León (PUR) & Krystal Meléndez (PUR)

Singles Event
• 🥈 Junior Girls†Singles – Krystal Meléndez (PUR)

💥 Overall Medal Table:
1ï¸âƒ£ United States
2ï¸âƒ£ Brazil
3ï¸âƒ£ Puerto Rico 🇵🇷

This third place globally is a demonstration of the growth, discipline, and talent of our young players, who continue to consolidate Puerto Rico among the powers of youth table tennis. America and the world.

A very special thanks to Butterfly, sponsor of our Federation and fundamental supporter along this path. Thanks to their support, our athletes have the best conditions to compete at the highest level.

Puerto Rico continues to grow, dream, and demonstrate that with hard work and heart, anything is possible.

 

  Stay “In The Loop†with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.

Share the post “Puerto Rico shines at the Rosario 2025 Pan American Youth Championships”

Source link

September 28, 2025

(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT)

Two weeks from today, on October 12, action will being in Rock Hill, South Carolina at the 2025 ITTF Pan American Championships.  This edition of the ITTF Continental event will bring the top table tennis teams of the Hemisphere with the winners punching their tickets to the 2026 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships in London.

By ranking, the top male players will be Hugo Calderano (3), Kanak Jha (23), Vitor Ishiy (51), and Eugene Wang (64).  On the Women’s side, Bruna Takahashi (18) is the top ranked player, with Adriana Diaz (21), Lily Zhang, Mo Zhang, and Amy Wang rounding out the top 5.

By current ITTF Team Rankings, the favorite in the Men’s Team Event will be Brazil (currently No. 9 in the World), with USA (No. 19), Canada (No. 22), and Chile (No. 30) close behind.  On the Women’s side, Brazil will be the top seed at No. 10 in the world, with USA at No. 16, Puerto Rico at No. 19, and Chile at No. 21.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.

Share the post “Pan Am Championships: Preview”

Source link

September 14, 2025 (by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT) The ITTF Pan American U11 & U13 Championships concluded last week in…

August 31, 2025 (by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) The ITTF Pan American Youth Championships 2025 finished on Sunday in Rosario,…

Location: Rosario, ArgentinaEvent Dates: August 24–31, 2025Event: 2025 ITTF Pan Am Youth ChampionshipsDivision: U15Paddle Palace Sponsored Player: Abigail Yu A…