| Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor | |
| Doubles Partners Reach Final | |
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Twenty-one year old Chen Qi of China reached his third Men’s Singles final of the year on the ITTF Pro Tour when he beat Austria’s Chen Weixing in the semi-finals of the Kuwait International Open Salwa Cup on Friday 24th February 2006. He accounted for the Austrian 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9. In the final he will play his compatriot Ma Lin who beat Hong Kong’s Li Ching 11-7, 11-7, 11-9, 11-1 |
| The Kuwait International Open Salwa Cup is the fourth ITTF Pro Tour tournament of 2006; Chen Qi has been present in all four. ITTF Pro Tour 2006 At the Liebherr Slovenian Open he reached the final losing to colleague Wang Hao. The following week at the Liebherr Croatian Open, he had to settle for the runners up role, being beaten by Vladimir Samsonov, whilst at the Liebherr Qatar Open it was a quarter-final exit. He was suffered at the hands of Wang Liqin, the eventual tournament winner. In all the three ITTF Pro Tour tournaments staged in 2006, Chen Qi has always lost to the player who won the tournament. One Title Prior to the Liebherr Slovenian Open in January 2006, Chen Qi had reached the final of a Men’s Singles event on the ITTF Pro Tour on three previous occasions, finishing in the runners up spot twice whilst succeeding once. The silver medals came in Korea and Sweden in 2003 whilst gold was secured at the Volkswagen Open Japan in Kobe in 2004. In Japan he beat Chinese Taipei’s Chuan Chih-Yuan in the final whilst in Sweden he lost to Wang Liqin but perhaps the most relevant result is the final in Korea. He lost to Ma Lin, the player he faces in Kuwait on the afternoon of Friday 24th February but Chen Qi is now a more experienced player and the Korean Open 2003 was his debut on the ITTF Pro Tour. Third Meeting Meanwhile, in his duels against Chen Weixing it was the third time they had met and it was the third time that Chen Qi had succeeded; the previous meetings being in May 2004 in the third round of the Volkswagen Open Singapore and at the same stage of the Volkswagen Open Japan in September of the same year. The adversary for Chen Qi in the Men’s Singles final is his doubles partner, Ma Lin; four years older than Chen Qi, he celebrated his twenty-sixth birthday last Sunday. It was the second time in a World Ranking event that Ma Lin had played Li Ching and the straight games win was even more resounding than their first encounter. The previous meeting was in September 2004 at the Volkswagen China Open when Ma Lin won in the second round in six games. Not Focused In Kuwait he was imperious and won in four straight games to reach his second consecutive ITTF Pro Tour Men’s Singles final of 2006. “Today, he played very well, I really wasn’t focused this morning”, said Li Ching. “I lost to him, that’s normal, I just hope next time I can do better.” The Hong Kong player was philosophical, it was his best performance ever in a Men’s Singles event on the ITTF Pro Tour; he had reached the semi-finals, his previous best being a last sixteen finish and of course he had beaten Timo Boll en route. “Yes, I played very well against Timo, much better than today!” reflected Li Ching. “Maybe Timo was a little nervous and got a little angry with himself; I was happy when I beat him but today I didn’t play well, I’m a little upset.” Another Chance Losing is disappointing but he still has a chance of gold, he’s in the Men’s Doubles final with Ko Lai Chak and once again Ma Lin will be at the other end of the table, he partners Chen Qi. Li Ching has the chance to redress matters whilst for Chen Qi and Ma Lin, who have come so close to winning an ITTF Pro Tour Men’s Singles title in 2006, one will be champion, one again will be the runner up. Who will celebrate has yet to be determined. |
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