It was joy and despair for Korea in the second round of the Men’s
Singles event at the H.I.S. World Championships in Yokohama on the
evening of Thursday 30th April 2009.
Ryu Seung Min, seeded no.
9, suffered at the hands of Slovenia’s Bojan Tokic to bring tears to
the eyes of Korean supporters as the 2004 Olympic Men’s Singles
champion bid farewell.
However, less than 10 minutes later,
those tears of sadness, turned to tears of joy as the boy from Jeju
Island on the southern extremity of the country, Kim Jung Hoon, doused
European aspirations.
In five games, he defeated Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, the no. 5 seed.
Score Lines
Bojan Tokic won 14-12, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 whilst Kim Jung Hoon prevailed 6-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-5, 11-7.
Good Preparation
It was for Bojan Tokic reward for careful preparation.
"We’ll
see in two days time if it’s all been worthwhile", he said on Monday
27th April, the day before play started in the Yokohama Arena.
Certainly,
it has been worthwhile. "This is my fourth week in Japan, I spent three
weeks practising at the National Training Centre in Tokyo", said a
delighted Slovenian who is a man to be admired.
Splendid Sportsmen
Tokic is totally honest and sincere; at the Qatar Open he gave all his prize money to the Sandra Paovic Fund.
Table
tennis is richer for the likes of Bojan Tokic and he beat a man of
similar ilk. Last year Ryu Seung Min gave $10,000 to the earthquake
fund in southern China.
"I was in good shape today as a result
of the practice in Tokyo", continued Tokic. "Recently, I’ve played Ryu
Seung Min in the European Champions League on two occasions and both
times I lost."
Left Handers
The
Korean has experienced problems in the past against left handers; at
the Volkswagen 48th World Championships in Shanghai in 2005 he lost to
Danny Heister of the Netherlands and time and again he has suffered
against Timo Boll.
In fact the only time in a World Ranking
event that he has beaten Boll was two years ago at the Liebherr World
Championships in Zagreb.
Strong Backhand
Playing Tokic was to some extent like playing a left hander. The Slovenian is very strong from the backhand.
"Yes,
because my backhand is strong I should be able to beat him", said
Tokic. "However, that’s not as easy as it’s sounds; today I kept
attacking his body with my backhand but it was still difficult to stop
him playing forehands."
The comment is an appreciation of the sheer speed of Ryu Seung Min.
Little Things Count
"Today
my block was good", concluded Tokic. "I received service well and I
think it was the little things that brought success."
How often is that the case? Time and again.
Painful Memory
Meanwhile, for Kim Jung Hoon, the victory put a painful memory to rest.
In
2008 at the Salwa Cup Kuwait Open, Kim Jung Hoon had beaten Dimitrij
Ovtcharov in the first round, then in round two he was two games to one
ahead against Vladimir Samsonov and led 10-7 in the third.
He lost the third game and the match, Samsonov went on to win the tournament.
At the H.I.S. world Championships, no charity was spared.
Likes Style
"I
know Vladi is a very good player but I like his style, he’s not
powerful and I can become involved in rallies; that suits me",
explained Kim Jung Hoon. "He didn’t play that well today, he made
mistakes; I tried to change the direction of the play quickly and that
caused him problems."
Also, Kim Jung Hoon is used to the style of play executed by Samsonov.
Oh Sang Eun
"He’s
tall, just like Oh Sang Eun, Vladi plays like Oh Sang Eun and he’s in
my team", said Kim Jung Hoon. "I’m used to that style of play."
Well, that may be the situation but nevertheless, playing Vladimir Samsonov is always a difficult task.
Torrid Time
It
was for Kim Jung Hoon victory, for Ryu Seung Min, the torrid time
continues; on the ITTF Pro Tour in 2009 he has never reached his
allotted seeded position in the draw. Always he has lost to a lower
World Ranked player.
In Yokohama it happened again.
Source: www.ittf.com
