Name:     Art Koberstein	Recreation/Sport: Table Tennis
Relationship:	Country:     Canada
Chicago, IL • June 30 - July 4, 2004 Staff Listing Tournament Staff – ITTF Pro Tour ITTF Competition Manager Didier Leroy Pro Tour Director Azmy Ibrahim Referee Larry Kesler, IR Deputy Referee Art Koberstein, IR (CAN) Chief Umpire Wendell Dillon, IR Registration Emilia Gheorghe REPORT BY ART KOBERSTEIN Deputy Referee, World Team Championships,? Bremen, Germany, May 2006 Both my flights to and from Germany were uneventful.? The accommodations and transport to and from the playing venue were first rate however the food service at the AWD Dome was not up to German standards. The competition took place in two halls that were connected through a pedestrian walkway.? The main hall contained four tables and an additional thirty-six tables were set up in a second hall.? A third hall contained practice tables only.? There were 140 countries participating at these team championships.? The competition was divided into groups of 24 teams with both Canada?s men and women teams competing in division two.? Neither team played to their potential and both ended up near the bottom of their division.? Asia dominated both men?s and women?s events and only the German men were able to derail the Oriental express by finishing third.? The most interesting match I witnessed was the German men versus China with over ten thousand spectators cheering them on.? China managed to win 3-1 although the match was a lot closer than what the score indicated and the one loss for China was the only one during the entire competition.? The China women also went through the entire tournament without a single loss. All the officials stayed at the same hotel ( Landgut Horn ) which was a 30 minute bus ride to the playing venue.? There were approximately 70 German and 36 foreign umpires as well as 4 deputy referees on duty.? Our workload was spread between both halls however I was privileged to be able to assist at the final event which was the men?s team final between China and South Korea.? I found both the quality of some umpires as well as some deputy referees not up to the standards needed for a World Championships. Both Greg Dzioba and I managed to have the same free day so we visited the old city of Bremen with all its history, which was a very unique and pleasant experience. I would like to thank the ITTF, CTTA, and MTTA for their financial support to make this trip a reality. Art Koberstein Manitoba