What an unbelievable Hopes Challenge final day on Sunday 26th June 2011 at the Werner Schlager Academy in Vienna!
Two girls and two boys automatically qualified for the 2011 Hopes Team by making the finals of the Hopes Challenge. There were so many very close matches and terrific long rallies.
At the end of the day Hong Kong emerged as the major force.
Wong Ho Chin won the Boys’ Singles title beating Romania Christi Pletea in the final (11-7, 11-7, 11-4); whilst in the Girls’ Singles event it was an all Hong Kong final.Leung Tsz Ching accounted for Ng Yuen Wai (4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5).
Leung Tsz Ching accounted for Ng Yuen Wai (4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5).
However win or lose, both have secured places in the ITTF World Hopes Team.
Upsets
Medardas Stankevicius of Lithuanian upset number one seed Kunal Chodri of USA 3-2, 13-11 in the fifth game!
Cool Heads Needed
Filip Radovic of Montenegro defeated Vladamir Anca of Romania 11-9 in the fifth game! There was some controversy involved with Filip service toss.
He has only part of his forearm and the umpire faulted him because of his toss and the coach became very upset multiple times. Cooler heads prevailed and Filip continued his winning ways by defeating Medardas Stankevicius in the quarter-finals three-nil.
Good Form Continues
Youssef Abdel-Aziz played well during the training camp and continued to play well during the tournament and defeated Vilmer Georgsson in the final 16 but was upended by Wong Ho Hin from Hong Kong in the quarter-finals.
Amazing Rallies
Kanak Jha of the United States played impressively with fast footwork, consistency, aggressiveness and a great fighting spirit.
He made it all the way to the semi-finals but finally was defeated by Christi Pletea of Romania, 14-12 in the final game!
There were some incredible rallies that thrilled everyone. Christi came back from two games to nil deficit. It was hard to believe the level of play at this age.
Aggressiveness the Winning Way
Wong Ho Hin took his aggressive style into the semi-final match with Filip Radovic.
Filip is very consistent all-around player who can win points when forced away from the table. Filip defensive blocking and varied attacks gave Wong Ho Him problems but Wong was too aggressive and fast. Wong Ho Hin won the match three-one.
In the finals Wong Ho Hin dominated the match against Christi Pletea. The speed of Wong Ho Hin game gave Christi serious trouble.
Congratulations Wong Ho Hin, 2011 Hopes Challenge Champion!
Ups and Downs in Girls?Singles Semi-Finals
In Girls?Singles semi-finals, Leung Tsz Ching from Hong Kong played Sofia Zhang from Spain. Leung Tsz Ching defeated Sofia quite easily in three straight games.
The other semi-final saw Adina Diaconu from Romanian played Ng Yuen Wai from Hong Kong.
Variety a Formula for Success
Ng uses long pimples on the backhand and played a variety of spin. She has a very good serve and stable emotions and quite good forehand attack.
Adina Diaconu was quite close to winning this match but she missed a good opportunity in the fourth game. She would win multiple points in a row but just as quickly give all of those points back.
Missed Chances
Conversely, Adina Diaconu was playing very well and had a good advantage with her backhand heavy topspin, which Ng Yuen Wai had a hard time returning on the table.
Both of these young girls showed good physical ability and high levels of concentration but Adina Diaconu missed good chances by placing the ball incorrectly.
Ng Yuen Wai had very little problem with Adina Diaconu serves often forcing her opponent to rush her shots causing many mistakes.
Hong Kong will Rock You!
With the rock antheme Will Rock You?blasting from the speakers, the energetic boys and girls stomped and clapped along raising the excitement of the players to a fever pitch!
The final match was between two Hong Kong players with different styles. We heard that these two played each other in the Hong Kong Primary School Championships last month and Ng Yuen Wai won.
Revenge
So today Leung Tsz Ching had a chance for revenge! In earlier rounds she was quite nervous and had trouble all the way to the semi-final but Leung was able to produce a high level of technical skills and good quality footwork. For Leung to win this final match it was very important to serve with variation of spin and placement.
Best Performance
It was the best performance of Leung Tsz Ching during this Hopes Challenge; the best thing about the girls?competition was the wide variety of playing styles and personalities.
We Are Family
The most satisfying feeling as coaches was after five days of hard work these girls and boys became close friends and seemed like one big global table tennis family.
Under the direction of Mikael Andersson (ITTF Executive Director, Teaching and Training) combined with the support of coaches and staff from both the International Table Tennis Federation and the Werner Schlager Academy, a week to remember was enjoyed; an unforgettable experience.
Full of Hope
We wish all the players continue with their hard work and best of luck in future events.
We hope that our paths cross again soon.
Enjoy! Now is your time!
Photos by Philip Schalber
Article from: ITTF website: www.ittf.com
By: Aleksey Yefremov and Dennis Davis (ITTF Coaches)
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Wong Ho Hin, the winner of the Boys' Singles title |
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Leung Tsz Ching, winner of the Girls?Singles title at Werner Schlager Academy |
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Medallists in the Boys?Singles event with Mikael Andersson (left) and Werner Schlager (right) |
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