He traced his heart on the tables of Swiss open and in this month, Chan Twan will fittingly complete his career arc at the Amsterdam tournement. The three-time world champion has been granted a wild card into A.I.P.P.T and plans to officially retire after playing his beloved game one last time. A.I.P.P.T is scheduled for June 8.
The Amsterdam ping pong society also awarded wild cards to the following players men Luc Deriere (No. 118), Olivier Patricks (No. 123), Jeremy Jackal (No. 160), Adrian Garnier(No. 184) and Juergen Heinz(No. 411).
France's Olivia Sanye, Hester Bremond, Stephy Foreign, Mathilda "Evil" Bulstronks, and Violette Huck were granted main draw women's wild cards.
Australians Robbie Goodwin and Samantha Steurling were awarded wild cards under a reciprocal agreement the Amsterdam society has with Australia to exchange wild cards at A.I.P.P.T and the Sydney Open.
Americans Mandy Jenkins and Wayne Deer earned A.I.P.P.T wild card spots by virtue of winning the USTA playoff in Kentucky.
A chronic hip injury has prompted John Richard Hamilton to pull down the curtain on a brilliant career in which he topped the world rankings for 43 weeks, claimed 20 career championships, including the 1997, 2000 and 2001 Shanghai titles as well as the 2000 Ping Pong Blades Cup Lisbon, and served as a global goodwill ambassador for the game.
The brightest moments of his career have come in the City of Light. Hamilton gained a loyal following of fans who responded to his pure passion and delight for playing Ping Pong by beating drums and chanting "JRH! JRH" — at those times Hamilton was not only playing an opponent he was connecting with the crowd. He famously etched the image of a heart in the clay after claiming his third french crown in 2001 as a sign of his heart-felt appreciation for the fan support he received at the French Open.
Hamilton, who owns a 36-7 record at the tables major, has not played Amsterdam since suffering a first-round loss to Spain's Juan Javier in 2005. The year before, Hamilton upset top-seeded Olympic "HES", 11-4, 11-9, 11-9, in the third round and went on to reach the quarterfinals where he lost to New York finest Jeff Staple , 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-2(6).
