Wednesday, March 18, 2009
8:41 AM
ITTF Pro Tour German Open - Top Seeds face Strong Opposition
Thinking of achieving another good result in the German Open? Our paddlers will be facing strong opposition despite China not sending their best players.

Gao Ning, our top male paddler, is the 8th Seed in the competition, while Ma Liang, who won the Men's Singles Title last week had to play the qualification stage. In order to capture a medal, they will have to upset Host Nation's Boll Timo and Belarus's Samsonov Vladimir, who are ranked the Top 10 players and the Top 2 Seeds. In addition, Liu Yanan, Chen Jingqi, Zheng Peifeng and Yin Hang; could also be the players to cause upsets. These four teenagers are representatives of the mighty China. Yang Zi is the 18th Seed, whilst Cai Xiao Li and Pang Xue Jie will have to join Ma Liang in the qualifying stage.

Meanwhile, in the Women's Singles event Feng Tianwei is the no.1 Seed and she will be seeking to continue her run of success on the ITTF Pro Tour where she won the Women's Singles title at the Polish Open in November last year. Seeded no.2 is her compatriot, Wang Yue Gu who won the Women's Singles crown in 2006 at the German Open. Sun Bei Bei and Yu Meng Yu are the 8th and 14th Seeds respectively, whilst Sim Kai Xin Zena will have to compete in the qualifiying stage.

Similarly, our femle paddlers may face strong threats from their Chinese opposition. The star names may be missing but teenagers Li Xiaodan, Mu Zi, Wu Yang and Wang Xuan are most certainly names to note.

Li Xiaodan finished 2008 at no.3 on the ITTF Under 18 Girls' Ranking. More recently, she had caused major upsets in the 1st stage of a China internal competition where she is ranked above notable names like Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yan. Mu Zi, whose personal coach is Kong Linghui, has an impressive haul of titles from World Junior Championships and Wu Yang is a reliable defensive player who has also impressed at World Junior Championships. Wang Xuan, who has been in the Chinese 1st Team due to her unique playing style is also capable of upsetting the Seeds.

It is also unusual to see these Chinese Star in the U21 events. Yu Meng Yu and Ma Liang will the 2nd Seed and 4th Seed respectively in the U21 Girls' and Boys' events. Zena and Xue Jie will have to play in the qualification stage.

Our male doubles Gao Ning and Yang Zi will be the Top Seed in the Men's Doubles. However, none of our female paddlers were Seeded in the Women's Doubles Event because there was a last minute change in the pairing since Captain Li Jiawei is not participating. Sun Bei Bei will partner Yu Meng Yu while Feng Tianwei will be paired with Wang Yue Gu.

The competition will begin tomorrow. Germany has a 7 hours time difference from Singapore.




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