Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting is the top seed in the Men’s Singles event at the forthcoming GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Ozcare Australian Open .

Proceedings start in the New South Wales city of Sydney on Wednesday 21st May.

An exalted status for the 22 year old and could that fact prove the greatest test of the year for Wong Chun Ting; he is the target.

World Ranking

In the first four months of the year he has made meteoric progress; in January he was listed at no.112 on the Men’s World Rankings, at the time the highest of his career.

He maintained the position in February before being jettisoned to no.44 in March and then no.37 in April. Now in May he stands at no.45.

Outstanding Performances
The progress is owing to the fact that he has recorded a series of outstanding performances; the tournament to ignite the flame being the GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Kuwait Open in February.

One year earlier he had come within a whisker of causing a sensation in the Middle East state; he had led China’s Zhang Jike, the reigning Olympic and World champion by three games to one, before losing by the minimal two point margin in the deciding seventh game.

Threatened but Fell Short
Zhang Jike escaped and progressed to win the Men’s Singles title; the result seemed to sum up Wong Chun Tung.

Time and again he had threatened to cause and upset, time and again he had fallen agonisingly short.

Breakthrough
One year later in 2014 matters changed; in Kuwait he beat Frenchman Adrien Mattenet in the opening round of the Men’s Singles event, before ousting the Japanese duo of Seiya Kishikawa and Kenta Matsudaira to book a quarter-final encounter with China’s Fan Zhendong.

Against the champion elect he suffered defeat but progress to the last eight of a prestigious tournament was an meritorious performance.

A scintillating effort in Kuwait; one week later in Qatar he again beat Kenta Matsudaira, before losing to Austria’s Robert Gardos. Undoubtedly, it was a most successful visit to the Gulf Area of the World; Wong Chun Ting had become a winner.

Further Progress
Following his successes in Kuwait and Qatar he impressed at the GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour German Open, where once again he demonstrated his penchant for Japanese players.

He beat Taku Takakiwa before losing to Jun Mizutani in a close seven games duel.

Penultimate Round in Spain
Defeat in the second round in Germany, his next appearance on the GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour came in Spain, where again he caused the Matsudaira family agonies.

After accounting for Spain’s José Manuel Ruiz in the opening round, Wong Chun Ting overcame Kenji Matsudaira in the second round of the Men’s Singles, before ousting Turkey’s Bora Vang and Italy’s Mihai Bobocica to reach his first ever ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles semi-final. He was beaten by Masataka Morizono, who extracted Japanese revenge.

The Target
Now throughout his rise, Wong Chun Ting has been causing upsets; in Sydney it is a different scenario, as the top seed he is the mark, he is the man under pressure.

How will react?

The GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Ozcare Australia Open is a test of character, a test of the character of Wong Chun Ting.

Top Names
Singapore’s Zhou Jian, Yang Zi, Chen Feng and Wu Zhikang occupy the next four seeded positions in the Men’s Singles event; the host nation’s William Henzell is the sixth seed with Japan’s Asuka Sakai and Kohei Sambe completing the top eight names.

Article by: ITTF - Ian Marshall