China’s Hao Shuai won the Men’s Singles crown at the Slovenian Open
in Velenje on Saturday 17th January 2009 beating compatriot Zhang Chao
in the final, who fell one step short of surely being the first
qualifier to win a Men’s Singles event on the ITTF Pro Tour.
It
was a quite remarkable performance by Zhang Chao, who did not receive a
direct entry to the main draw; owing to the fact he did not possess a
current world ranking he was required to compete in the qualification
matches on the first two days of play.
A splendid effort but at the final hurdle, Hao Shuai held the aces; the no.2 seed won 11-2, 11-6, 7-11, 14-12, 11-6.
Third Career Title
It
was Hao Shuai’s third career Men’s Singles title on the ITTF Pro Tour;
in 2008 he won at the Panasonic China Open whilst in January 2007 he
succeeded at the Croatian.
Coincidentally, the Croatian Open in 2007 was the first ITTF Pro Tour Tournament of he year as is the Slovenian Open in 2009.
World Ranking
Meanwhile
for Zhang Chao, surely if he hailed from any country other than China
he would have enjoyed more international fame and would have possessed
a current world ranking.
Born on 5th January 1985, he first
entered the ITTF Men’s World Rankings in November 2000; owing to a lack
of international appearances he is currently not listed. The most
recent occasion when his name appeared on the listings was in November
2006 when he appeared at no. 67, his highest ever being no.57 in March
2002.
He may well enjoy his highest career place when the rankings are issued in February 2009.
First Final
In
Velenje, it was the first time he had reached a final and the second
time he had reached the semi-finals of a Men’s Singles event on the
ITTF Pro Tour. He reached the penultimate stage at the Netherlands Open
in 2001.
Third Meeting
It
was the third time that Hao Shuai and Zhang Chao had met in a world
ranking event and it was the third time that Hao Shuai had won.
He
succeeded at the semi-final stage of the Men’s Singles event at the
Pyongyang Invitation Tournament in August 2004, winning in seven games
whilst one year later in November 2005 he emerged victorious in the
third round of the Men’s Singles event at the Swedish Open.
On that occasion he won in six games; in Velenje he won in one game less.
Source: www.ittf.com
