It was success for Singapore at the quarter-final stage of the Men’s
Singles event at the Indian Open in Indore on Saturday 14th March 2009.
Four Singaporean players entered the arena at the start of proceedings; four players remained at the conclusion.
It
was success for the respective top two seeds Gao Ning and Yang Zi as it
was for Ma Liang, seeded no.4 and Cai Xiao Li, seeded no.5.
Gao Ning beat Iran’s Mohammadreza Akhlaghpasand in five games,
recovering from an opening game deficit to succeed 11-13, 11-3, 11-9,
11-6, 11-8 whilst colleague, Yang Zi was in equally unforgiving mood.
He defeated Hong Kong’s Tse Ka Chun by a similar margin winning 11-9, 11-6, 11-13, 13-11, 11-8.
Likewise
Similarly,
it was a five games win for Ma Liang; like Gao Ning, he ended Iranian
hopes; he beat Mohammad Bayrampour Arallo 11-4, 8-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-6.
Ma
Liang is a young man establishing himself at senior level, currently
the barrel chested right hander stands at no.2 on the ITTF Under 18
Boys’ Rankings, by contrast, the fourth successful Singaporean, Cai
Xiao Li is an experienced hand.
Experience
He
beat Iran’s Mehran Ahadi, the man who one round earlier had caused the
sensation of the day by ousting India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta, the no.3
seed.
"It was the first time that I’d ever played Cai Xiao Li",
said Mehran Ahadi. "I went ahead by two games to one, my backhand was
working really well but then he started to play deep to my forehand and
forced me back from the table; I couldn’t find any tactics to combat
this change but I think I’ve learnt from the experience."
Cai Xiao Li won 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4.
Source: www.ittf.com
