China’s Wang Hao, the number one seed, duly finished his first stage
matches in top position in Group A on the morning of Saturday 27th
October 2008 at the Liebherr Men’s World Cup in Liège; whilst in Group
C, a few minutes later, Kalinikos Kreanga did exactly the same.
Wang Hao was beat Canada’s Pradeeban Peter-Paul in four straight games, winning 11-9, 11-1, 11-3, 11-8.
Meanwhile, for Kalinikos Kreanga he was the player with the momentum; likewise he recorded a straight games victory.
He beat Singapore’s Gao Ning 11-9, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7.
Mental Gap
"He
was down, mentally down", explained Kalinikos Kreanga. "Yesterday he
lost two matches, yesterday I won two matches; that was the big
difference."
It was for Gao Ning a totally different experience
to one year ago in Barcelona when he had been in impressive form
reaching the quarter-finals.
In Liège, he simply wasn’t at the races.
Playing Well
"I’m
playing well, I was in a good position in the tournament before we
played today", continued Kalinikos Kreanga. "The most important thing
is that mentally I’m in good shape, that’s been the key here."
Certainly, he has been in good shape as has Pradeeban Peter-Paul, despite suffering defeat.
Excels in Open Play
"In
open play he is very good", said Marles Martin, the Canadian National
Coach. "At counter topspin play he can compete at a high level, it is
important to improve the short game, that’s where he makes mistakes, he
can flick well but then on occasions he makes errors."
Certainly that was the situation against Werner Schlager on the opening day and on the second day when faced with Wang Hao.
However,
the Canadian can take considerable pride in his efforts; he extended
Chinese Taipei’s Chuan Chih-Yuan the full seven games distance in his
opening encounter.
Medium Play
"We
are practising changing direction early in the rally and doing footwork
exercises; certainly there is improvement, that’s in doubt", continued
Marles Martin. "Also, he needs to attack sooner and he’s always been
good in medium play but I wonder if we’ll see less of that without the
glue; in Liège we’ve certainly seen less."
Marles Martin is
referring to controlled topspin play; will the disappearance of speed
glue mean the game with become more concentrated on excellence of short
play and dynamic first attacks?
Surely the aim is to create the reverse scenario, longer dynamic topspin rallies?
One Big Win
Also,
in the match against Wang Hao, perhaps Pradeeban Peter-Paul could have
trusted his backhand more but there is one factor on which both Marles
Martin and myself agree one hundred per cent.
One big win and
then he’s up, up and away; in Liège he was near, very near and it was
an improved performance on his two previous appearances in the Men’s
World Cup.
Certainly Pradeeban Peter-Paul is moving in the right direction.
Source: www.ittf.com
