Portugal’s Marcos Freitas, the no.1 seed in the Under 21 Men’s Singles event at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals in Macau, was in devastating form in his opening duel on Thursday 11th December 2008.
He beat Singapore’s Ma Liang in four straight games.
Having paid a visit to the local hairdresser and sporting an even shorter hair cut than normal, the Portuguese man-of-war was irrepressible. Ma Liang could offer only minimal resistance as the left hander from the Atlantic island of Madeira sped to victory.
Marcos Freitas won 11-4, 11-8, 11-7, 11-3.
Boy to Man
The teenager who had won the Boys’ Singles crown at the European Youth Championships in 2006 has progressed from boy to man.
Feet wide apart to create a base from which he could deliver powerful forehands there was no stopping the rising European star, who is clearly benefitting from the experience of representing Borussia Düsseldorf in the powerful German League.
Broke Singaporean Hearts
On the few occasions he was forced back from the table he executed heavy topspin returns in the “2005 Michael Maze Shanghai Mould” to force errors and break the heart of Ma Liang.
Recovery
The Portuguese star dominated from start to finish but that was not the situation in the corresponding match in Group A where Chinese Taipei’s Chiang Hung-Chieh had to recover from a two games to nil deficit to beat France’s Emmanuel Lebesson.
In typical Gatien – Legout style, the left handed Lebesson attacked quickly with his forehand. He directed his first attacks into the body of the young man from Chinese Taipei but from the third game onwards class told.
Chiang Hung-Chieh moved into a different gear, controlled the play, forced errors and underlined the fact that he is a player of high pedigree.
Group B
Success in Group A for Marcos Freitas and Chiang Hung-Chieh whilst in Group B the victors were Russia’s second seeded Krill Skachkov and France’s Adrien Mattenet.
Kirill Skachkov beat the Czech Republic’s Lubomir Jancarik 11-6, 11-6, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6 whilst Adrien Mattenet overcame Singapore’s Liu Zhong Ze 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-5.
High Energy and Determination
A high energy player, Kirill Skachkov overpowered Jancarik; repeated use of the reverse service, a strong first attack proved the key to success whilst for Mattenet it was character and determination that brought him through.
Fluent
Liu Zhong Ze was the more fluent player and more likely to win the forehand topspin rallies but clever serving and an abundance of spirit saw the Frenchman home
Adrien Mattenet impressed as did Kirill Skachkov and Chiang Hung-Chieh but if one man has come to Macau with a mission it is Marcos Freitas.
He was devastating.
Source: www.ittf.com
