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Hong Kong celebrated, the early evening of the penultimate day, Saturday 2nd November, at the 2013 ITTF Cadet Challenge in Otocec, Slovenia belonged to the Special Administrative Region of China.
Kwan Man Ho, the no.10 seed, booked his place in the Boys’ Singles semi-final; Mak Tze Wing did exactly the same in the counterpart Girls’ Singles event.
The win recorded by Kwan Man Ho was not a major upset; he beat Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes, the no.14 seed, in four straight games (11-7, 12-10, 11-5, 15-13) and thus repeated the straight games success he had enjoyed just over a month ago, when the pair had met on the ITTF Junior Circuit in Brazil.
An Upset
However, the success recorded by Mak Tze Wing was an upset.
The no.6 seed who in the initial stage of proceedings had been beaten by Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi and finished in second place in her group, excelled expectations. She accounted for Romania’s Adina Diaconu, the no.3 seed and the player who had remained unbeaten in the team event earlier in the week, guiding Europe to a bronze medal.
Impressively, Mak Tze Wing recorded a five games win (13-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6).
Excited
"I am so excited that I won, because I beat a very good player who had beaten both the Chinese and Japanese already in the tournament”, said Mak Tze Wing. “In the match I simply tried my best and tried to play without any pressure."
Mak Tze Wing rose to the occasion.
"My opponent was much stronger than me, so I just had to focus on doing better top spins, as I had no chance to beat her with power”, added Mak Tze Wing. “I also just had to block, block, block and wait for her to make a mistake."
Enjoyed the Experience
A delighted Mak Tze Wing and it was a delighted colleague, Kwan Man Ho; he was clearly enjoying the Slovenia experience.
"It has been a very good experience here in Slovenia, I have enjoyed it a lot; the experience here is going to help my game a lot in the future”, he said. “It was very interesting being in the Asian team, as everyone spoke different languages; I was able to speak to the Chinese boy in Chinese but the others I had to speak to in English and used a lot of hand movements to communicate."
Commendable Performance
Two fine performance which rather stole the limelight from another commendable effort and a surprise.
Russia’s Maria Malanina, the no.5 seed, recorded a six games Girls’ Singles quarter-final success over Korea’s Kim Jiho, the no.4 seed (10-12, 11-9, 16-14, 3-11, 11-5, 11-8).
Not Selected for Team Final
"It is a great surprise to beat beating the girl from Korea; I was not thinking about winning at the start of the match, so now I am very happy”, said Maria Malanina. "It was really hard playing against her, she is a great player, but luckily I played better."
Furthermore, perhaps Maria Malanina sent a message to the those responsible for selection.
"I didn't play in the team final”, she added. “That was disappointing but that gave me more confidence to play better today.”
Status Quo Prevails
Otherwise, at the quarter-final stage of proceedings, matters went as per status.
In the Boys’ Singles event, China’s Wang Chuqin, the no.1 seed, beat the Czech Republic’s Tomas Polansky, the no.5 seed (11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 16-14, 11-9) and Korea’s Hwang Minha, the no.2 seed, defeated the host nation’s Darko Jorgic, the no.11 seed (11-5, 13-11, 11-5, 11-7).
Good Technique Told
"I played just reasonably well, I was a little disappointed after I lost the game, I got pretty nervous but I knew my training would help me win the match in the end”, said Wang Chuqin. "I feel a lot of pressure playing for China which sometimes affects my performance, as it did a bit today."
Pressure but good basic technique saw Wang Chuqin home, as it did for Hwang Minha.
“My condition was very good, and my forehand was very good, the key to the match”, said Hwang Minha. “My opponent made many mistakes which helped a lot.”
All Asian Semi-Finals
Last eight victories in the Boys’ Singles event for Wang Chuqin, Hwang Minha and Kwan Man Ho; the one further success was achieved by Japan’s Takuto Izumo, the no.3 seed.
He beat Aliaksandar Khanin of Belarus, the no.8 seed (11-7, 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 12-10) to complete and all-Asian penultimate round line-up.
Top Seeds Prevail
Success for the top two seeds at the quarter-final stage of the Boys’ Singles event; it was the same in the Girls’ Singles competition.
Japan’s Mima Ito, the top seed, beat Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi, the no.11 seed (11-6, 11-3, 11-7, 11-7); China’s Li Yiran, the no.2 seed, defeated England’s Ho Tin Tin, the no.8 seed (11-1, 8-11, 13-11, 11-1, 11-6).
Feeling Less Pressure
"After she lost the second game, I didn't not panic, as I knew I was the better player and if I kept the ball on the table I would win”, said Li Yiran. “When I was playing in the team event and I lost two matches I was not at my best; now I am not in the team event and I am playing for myself I feel under much less pressure which is helping me play better."
Semi-Finals
At the semi-final stage of the Boys’ Singles event Wang Chuqin meets Takuto Izumo, Hwang Minha opposes Kwan Man Ho; in the Girls’ Singles competition Mima Ito confronts Maria Malanina, Mak Tze Wing faces Li Yiran.
Top Four Reach Sem-Finals
Meanwhile, in the Cadet Boys’ Doubles event the top four seeded pairs all booked semi-final places.
In the penultimate round Takuto Izumo and Wang Chuqin, the no.1 seeds, face Aliaksandr Khanin and Tomas Polansky, the no.3 seeds; Hwang Minha and Kwan Man Ho confront the United States duo of Kunal Chodri and Kanak Jha, the no.4 seeds.
One Surprise
No major surprises in the Cadet Boys’ Doubles but there was one upset of note in the Cadet Girls’ Doubles.
Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz in partnership with Brazil’s Leticia Nakada, the no.5 seeds, accounted for the partnership of Adina Diaconu and Ho Tin Tin, the no.3 seeds, at the quarter-final stage (11-7, 11-8, 15-13).
At the semi-final stage Adriana Diaz and Leticia Nakada meet Mima Ito and Kim Jiho, the no.1 seeds; in the opposite half of the draw Li Yiran and Mak Tze Wing, the no.2 seeds, oppose Belgium’s Lisa Lung and Russia’s Maria Malanina, the no.4 seeds.
Conclusion
Play concludes on Sunday 3rd November.
Article by: ITTF - Ian Marshall
Photo by: Courtesy of Slovenian Table Tennis Association
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