Four Chinese players in the top half of the draw in the Men’s
Singles event at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals in Macau and,
following the opening round matches on Friday 12th December 2008, there
are still four Chinese men in the top half of proceedings.
All four duly won their opening round matches to book their places in the quarter-finals.
The man to start to juggernaut rolling was Chen Qi.
He beat Korea’s Ryu Seung Min, the 2004 Olympic Men’s Singles.
Victories
Chen Qi won 11-9, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9 and was soon followed by victories for Ma Lin, Wang Liqin and Ma Long.
Ma
Lin overcame Korea’s Joo Se Hyuk 11-2, 11-5, 11-2, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7
whilst Wang Liqin overpowered Hong Kong’s Cheung Yuk and in similar
vein Ma Long dominated matters against Yoon Jae Young also of Korea.
Clash of Styles
The
fast attacking left hander is not Ryu Seung Min’s ideal cup of tea; he
doesn’t have the best record in the world against that style of play.
Chen Qi, who has the habit of playing one game at super human level and
then the next like a human being, maintained a consistent level
throughout the duel.
He directed his first attacks towards the
body of Ryu Seung Min, who strained every bone in his body to unleash
his fearsome forehand; the accuracy of the Chinese star’s attacks made
it almost impossible for the Speedy Gonzales of table tennis to execute
his forehand.
In straight games, Chen Qi prevailed.
Ma Lin
Victory for Chen Qi, then it was the turn of Ma Lin.
He
started like an express train against Joo Se Hyuk; he followed the
instructions of coach, Qin Zhijian, to the full; block any Joo Se Hyuk
attacks and attack with venom from the forehand.
In the early
part of the match Ma Lin made few errors; he followed the traditional
Chinese tactic of timing the ball early to give his adversary little
time and soon he had a three games to nil lead.
Korean Responds
Joo Se Hyuk had been overwhelmed but to his credit he responded.
The
defensive strokes were returned with more surety and he attacked with
his long dynamic forehand with venom. He forced errors; he put doubts
in the mind of Ma Lin as he had when beating the Chinese star at the
Salwa Cup Kuwait Open earlier in the year.
However, after losing
the fourth and fifth games, Ma Lin re-grouped, he minimised the
unforced errors and in six games emerged victorious.
Overpowered
Next
of the Chinese male quartet to finish was Ma Long; he simply
overpowered the left handed Yoon Jae Young, attacking the backhand of
the Korean with his long raking forehand at every opportunity.
Ma Long succeeded 11-3, 11-9, 11-2, 13-11.
Wang Liqin
One left hander beaten by a Chinese star and a second soon followed with Wang Liqin overcoming Cheung Yuk.
The
reigning World champion was in no mood for charity; the master of the
counter topspin he won in five games to join his colleagues in a
situation where all four quarter-finalists in the top half of the draw
from China.
Top Half, Quarter-Finals
It is Ma Lin versus Chen Qi and Wang Liqin against Ma Long.
Source: www.ittf.com
