Jiang Huajun, after a somewhat indifferent start to her quest for honours at the 2014 Women’s World Cup in the Austrian city of Linz on Friday 17^th October, recovered to secure second position in her group and thus a place in the main draw.

After suffering defeat in her opening match against Germany’s Wu Jiaduo (10-12, 11-6, 11-2, 13-11, 11-6), she recovered to beat Brazil’s Caroline Kumahara in her concluding contest (11-6, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7).

Second place was the end result; more importantly it meant a place in the main draw. Players finishing in first and second places in each of the four first phase group join the top eight seeds in the second stage.

Success for Jiang Huajun but she was not at her best; the new plastic ball caused problems.

“I think at the moment adapting to the new ball is more difficult for the Asian players than for others”, said Jiang Huajun. “We have just finished the Asian Games where we used the celluloid ball; so this it’s taking time to adjust.”

It was not the very best of Jiang Huajun; nevertheless, she secured second place in the group and a place in the main draw.

“After the Asian Games I’ve practised with the new plastic ball but not with the DHS ball that we are using here”, added Jiang Huajun. “It’s the first time that I’ve played using this brand; it’s as though I’m learning to play table tennis all over again!”

If that’s the situation, she is learning very quickly!

Against 19 year old Caroline Kumhara, Jiang Huajun held the aces; there was a gap in experience but the Hong Kong star was well aware that she had beaten a worthy opponent.

“I’ve seen her play on the ITTF World Tour, so I knew she was a strong player”, continued Jiang Huajun. “I had lost my first match today against Wu Jiaduo, so I knew that I had to be totally focused against Caroline; certainly I could not afford to be complacent.”

Article by: Ian Marshall

Photo by: Agentur Diener