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There are good days and there are not such good days; alas for Hong Kong on the first day of play, Thursday 6th December, at the GAC GROUP 2012 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Hangzhou, for their leading female players, it was one of the latter.
Nothing went right; nothing at all.
The trio who had represented Hong Kong at the London 2012 Olympic Games, all endured a day they would no doubt rather forget.
In the Under 21 Women’s Singles event, Lee Ho Ching who had been in such outstanding form on the GAC GROUP 2012 ITTF World Tour in Germany and Poland, never found the golden touch that had seen her progress to the quarter-final stage of the Women’s Singles event in both tournaments.
She had to settle for third place in her group and thus did not succeed in her quest to reach the second stage of proceedings.
In her opening contest she was beaten by Korea’s Jeon Jihee (11-8, 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5) before suffering against Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching (11-5, 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10).
Two defeats but she did conclude the day on a brighter note by beating Japan’s Misaki Morizono (9-11, 5-11, 11-2, 5-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9).
Equally it was a dismal day for her more experienced colleagues, Jiang Huajun and Tie Yana.
Jiang Huajun was all at sea without a paddle, against Sweden’s Matilda Ekholm, she was beaten in four straight games (11-9, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9); whilst Tie Yana was never in gear against the Czech Republic’s, Iveta Vacenovska.
She succumbed in six games (10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8).
Disappointment for Tie Yana, who was blissfully unaware that by competing in Hangzhou, she had established a record.
No woman has played in the Grand Finals on more occasions than Tie Yana; her appearance in Hangzhou made it eleven and moreover, eleven appearances in a row.
She is now one ahead of Singapore’s Li Jiawei and China’s Wang Nan who each played ten times.
“I didn’t realise that”, smiled the charming Tie Yana who doesn’t seem to have an angry bone in her body; she meets victory and defeat with the same equanimity.
“It would have made the tournament more meaningful for me had I won”, continued Tie Yana. “Earlier this afternoon I knew that Jiang Huajun had lost, so I really wanted to win for Hong Kong; it was not to be.”
Tie Yana was never really into her better form as the effervescent Iveta Vacenovska seized her opportunity.
“Today there was no real rhythm to my play and Iveta is a strong opponent”, added Tie Yana. “I was not that well prepared for the match; I hope that I can qualify for a 12th and 13th time and really make my presence felt!”
No doubt she will; Tie Yana with the flowing backhand is a delight to watch.
Here’s to the next time and to extending an already quite incredible record.
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