In March 2008 it was success for Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus and
China’s Zhang Yining at the Salwa Cup Kuwait Open; just under 12 months
later both will be seeking to stand once again on the top step of the
medal podium when matters come to a conclusion on Sunday 15th February
2009.
Certainly for Vladimir Samsonov it will be a tough task
with only Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan of the top 10 men on the
current ITTF World Rankings absent; whilst for Zhang Yining it is a
case of continue where you left off last year. Just keep doing what you
do best - winning!
Good Time
The Salwa
Cup Kuwait Open appeared on the 2008 calendar closely after the
Evergrande Real Estate Team Championships had concluded in Guangzhou,
China; if you are going to succeed against the Chinese then playing
them soon after a major event would appear as good a time as any.
Vladimir
Samsonov, who by his own admission had disappointed in Guangzhou, took
full advantage of the situation in Kuwait. He excelled to record his
one and only career win over Wang Hao before defeating Ma Long and Chen
Qi to secure gold.
Disappointment for China
Wins
over three of China’s elite was a splendid effort in what was the most
disappointing performance by their male team in 2008.
Ma Lin
was beaten by Korea’s Joo Se Hyuk, Chen Weixing ended the hopes of
Zhang Jike and the speed of France’s Christophe Legout proved too great
for Wang Liqin.
No Blues
However,
for the Chinese women there were no Guangzhou Blues. They dominated
matters with one name being to the fore, that of Zhang Yining.
The
young lady who was to retain her Olympic Women’s Singles title in
August 2008, clinched gold in Kuwait beating Li Xiaoxia in the final, a
victory in the midst of what is the most successful run ever by any
player in open international tournaments on the ITTF Pro Tour.
Amazing Run
After
a poor start by Zhang Yining standards to 2007, she completed the year
with victories in China, Austria and France before remaining unbeaten
in 2008 succeeding in Kuwait, Doha, China and Japan; the anomaly in
2008 being that she did not appear in a sufficient number of
tournaments to qualify for the Volkswagen Grand Finals.
The only
blip, since winning in September 2007 at the Panasonic China Open in
Shenzhen, was in December 2008 at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals
when she lost to Li Xiaoxia in the semi-finals.
Jiang Huajun
Otherwise,
it has been a trouble free 17 months on the ITTF Pro Tour; in fact the
last time she suffered defeat in a Women’s Singles event at an open
international tournament on the ITTF Pro Tour was on Saturday 23rd June
2007. On that occasion, she was beaten by Hong Kong China’s Jiang
Huajun in the third round of the Women’s Singles event.
Familiar Ring
Victory for Jiang Huajun and victory in the third round has a familiar ring when the latter’s name is paired with Zhang Yining.
On
Thursday 23rd February 2007, Jiang Huajun beat Zhang Yining in the
third round of the Women’s Singles event at the Salwa Cup Kuwait Open
before progressing to overcome Italy’s Wenling Tan Monfardini in the
quarter-finals, Chinese national team colleagues, Guo Yan in the
semi-finals and Guo Yue in the final.
At the time, the three
Chinese stars occupied the top three places on the ITTF Women’s World
Rankings; in 2009 they are the top three seeds at the Salwa Cup Kuwait
Open.
Seeds
Jiang
Huajun in seeded no. 5 with colleague Tie Yana one place higher whilst
in the Men’s Singles event, China’s Wang Hao is the no.1 seed followed
by compatriots Ma Lin and Ma Long with Germany’s Timo Boll at no.4 and
Vladimir Samsonov, one place below.
Schedule
Play
starts on Wednesday 11th February 2009 with the qualification stages of
the Men’s and Women’s Singles events, matches in the main draw commence
on Friday 13th February 2009.
Source: www.ittf.com
