9/17/2006 Panasonic Open (China)

A familiar face when it comes to success on the ITTF Pro Tour, China’s Wang Liqin has a host of titles to his credit but on Sunday 17th September 2006 he won his first in partnership with Hao Shuai.

The duo won the Men’s Doubles crown beating the reigning Olympic champions, Chen Qi and Ma Lin, in the final.

Hao Shuai and Wang Liqin won 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 12-10; iIncluding Grand Finals it was Wang Liqin’s thirty-seventh career title on the ITTF Pro Tour.

Title Haul
He has twenty-two Men’s Singles titles to his credit, thirteen Men’s Doubles crowns with Yan Sen, whilst in 2006 he won the Men’s Doubles gold at the Liebherr Qatar Open with Wang Hao and at the Volkswagen Open China with Chen Qi.

Meanwhile, for Hao Shuai it was his second career success on the ITTF Pro Tour; the one previous title to his name being gained in the Men’s Doubles event at the Liebherr Slovenian Open, when he partnered Ma Long to success.

Good Variation
“We played well together today, we had more variation to our play than our opponents at the key points”, said Hao Shuai. “I think this is the main reason that we won; I think they had some problems with control when we played short.”

Quite possibly and Wang Liqin is no doubt very comfortable playing with a left hander where it is somewhat easier for him to play his powerful forehand than when partnering a right hander; a fact he proved time and again with Yan Sen as the duo progressed to Olympic and World gold.

Rarity
It was for Chen Qi and Ma Lin a disappointment, defeat rarely happens when they reach a Men’s Doubles final. In fact it has only happened once before, that being at the Liebherr Qatar Open in 2005 when they lost at the final hurdle to Kong Linghui and Wang Hao.

On all other ten occasions that they have reached the final, they have always won.

Below Par
“I didn’t feel that we were in our best form today”, said Chen Qi. “We know Hao Shuai and Wang Liqin well but it was somewhat unexpected that they won so many key points so very decisively.”

Defeat for the Olympic champions and how ever well or badly they played, beating such a formidable pair necessitates a special effort. Ma Lin paid tribute to his worthy adversaries. “We know each other well, I think the pairing of Hao Shuai and Wang Liqin is very good”, he said. “However, today Chen Qi and myself, we were a little bit slow at the start, we did not keep up with the speed of match.”

Successful Year
No titles in Guangzhou for Ma Lin but in 2006 that is an unusual event.

“I’ve been to five ITTF Pro Tour tournaments this year, three times I’ve been the Men’s Singles champion and once the runner up; this is the first time I’ve not made the Men’s Singles final.”

Tired
Also, the recent two weeks have been a busy time for both Chen Qi and Ma Lin with the Panasonic China Open being their third event in a short space of time.

“Chen Qi and myself, both of us are just back from Singapore and the China versus World All Stars match in Malaysia”, explained Ma Lin. “We are very tired but that’s normal for players, I am confident with my technique.”

Defeat is part of sport, nobody is infallible and for Ma Lin 2006 is proving very successful but in Guangzhou there was no gold. Hao Shuai and Wang Liqin hit form, they combined well and a formidable partnership has announced its arrival; more titles will no doubt accrue.