The two players, currently ranked No 1 on the ITTF World
Rankings won the men's and women's singles titles respectively at
the inaugural ITTF Tournament of Champions in Changsha, China. On
Wednesday, Zhang Yining clinched the women's singles title and one
day later, her Chinese national team colleague, Wang Liqin, was
crowned men's singles champion.
In the final Wang Liqin beat Ma Lin in six games - 11-9, 10-12,
11-7, 4-11, 11-4, 11-3.
Having lost one week earlier at the quarter-final stage of the
Men's Singles event at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals, Wang
Liqin was back to approaching his very best form in Changsha. And
one man with a very special interest in his performance, watched
the proceedings closely.
The man was Shen Yimin, Wang Liqin's former coach in the Zha Bei
District, in the north of Shanghai.
He spoke to Jennifer Fu, the ITTF Chinese website manager. "Wang
Liqin's performance in both the semi-final and final was very
good," said Shen. "I thought the final was top-level table-tennis,
Wang Liqin showed great skills, there were tremendous rallies and
the spectators enjoyed what they saw.
"They saw the two highest ranked players in the world in action
I am really pleased to be here," continued Shen. "It has been a
great privilege."
Meanwhile, for Wang it was a return to the top step of the medal
podium, after having missed that exalted position in both the
Liebherr Men's World Cup and the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand
Finals.
"I think the final was my best match of the tournament; in both
the semi-final and in the final I felt in good shape," said Wang.
"I lost to Wang Hao last week in Hong Kong, I learnt from that, I
made more changes today in my play and tried to avoid
mistakes."
Fewer errors
The errors from Wang's racket became fewer as the tournament
progressed and there was a noticeable determination to succeed.
"I tried to put myself in the position of not being the No 1
ranked player in the world but in a situation where I must fight,"
continued Wang Liqin. "Against Wang Hao, I was two games to nil
down and I came back to win. That helped my confidence and showed
that my form was good."
For Wang Liqin, it was a good ending to 2006 and the reigning
Men's Singles World champion was certainly pleased with the
conclusion to the year.
"I missed the Asian Games and in tournaments I've had some good
results and some not-so-good ones," explained Wang Liqin. "Notably,
I didn't do that well in the Liebherr Men's World Cup nor in the
Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals, so it is good to finish the year
on a winning note."
A third place in the Liebherr Men's World Cup and a
quarter-final place in the men's singles event at the Volkswagen
Pro Tour Grand Finals would be seen by many as good success;
however, for Wang Liqin it was below par performance.
"Winning today, I feel it's a great achievement," said Wang
Liqin. "Even when I was losing I believed I could win. I think now
I'm more mature mentally."
These should serve as chilling words for the rest of the table
tennis world. In 2007 in Zagreb he will defend his men's singles
title at the Liebherr World Championships. It seem that
preparations are very much on course.
(China Daily December 23, 2006)