01/30/2011        2011 English Open - ITTF Pro Tour

Press Release

ITTF Pro Tour: English Open

Sheffield: Saturday 29th January 2011

Seventh Heaven for Chen Qi and Ding Ning

China’s 26 year old CHEN Qi and 20 year old DING Ning won the Men’s and Women’s Singles titles respectively at the English Open in Sheffield on Sunday 30th January 2011, on a day when seemingly seven was the lucky number.

Both occupied the seventh seeded place in the draw and both overcame higher rated adversaries on the concluding day of play, a day which saw only Chinese players in action.

At the semi-final stage of the Men’s Singles event CHEN Qi beat WANG Liqin, the no.4 seed and three times Men’s Singles World champion, before overcoming Ma Lin, the no.3 seed and reigning Olympic champion in the final.

Meanwhile, DING Ning ousted LI Xiaoxia, the no.6 seed in the semi-finals before overcoming the defending champion and top seed, GUO Yan, in the final.

In the semi-finals of the Men’s Singles event MA Lin had beaten WANG Hao, the no.1 seed and reigning World champion; whilst at the same stage of the Women’s Singles competition GUO Yan had overcome LIU Shiwen, the no.4 seed.

The victory for CHEN Qi, who had not been selected for the Chinese Men’s Team at the 2010 LIEBHERR World Team Championships in Moscow, was a return form and his first Men’s Singles title on the ITTF Pro Tour since 2007, when he won in consecutive weeks in Russia and Austria.

Overall it was his fourth, he won his first ITTF Pro Tour Men’s Singles crown in Japan in 2004; as for DING Ning it was her second career ITTF Pro Tour Women’s Singles title, her previous was in 2009 at the Salwa Cup Kuwait Open.

Success for DING Ning in the Women’s Singles event but in the Women’s Doubles competition she had to settle for runners up spot; partnering LI Xiaoxia and seeded no.1, the pair lost to the second seeds, GUO Yan and GUO Yue in the final.

Similarly for MA Lin, he had to settle for a doubles silver medal; in harness with WANG Hao and seeded no.3, the pair suffered in the final against second seeds XU Xin and ZHANG Jike.

Men’s Singles
Semi-Finals
MA Lin (CHN) bt WANG Hao (CHN) 6-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 13-15, 11-5
CHEN Qi (CHN) bt WANG Liqin (CHN) 11-13, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 4-11, 12-10

Final
CHEN Qi (CHN) bt MA Lin (CHN) 11-5, 11-4, 11-13, 14-12, 11-4

Women’s Singles
Semi-Finals
GUO Yan (CHN) bt LIU Shiwen (CHN) 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 12-10
DING Ning (CHN) bt LI Xiaoxia (CHN) 12-10, 10-12, 12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 11-7

Final
DING Ning (CHN) bt GUO Yan (CHN) 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-3, 11-7

Men’s Doubles
Final
XU Xin / ZHANG Jike (CHN) bt MA Lin / WANG Hao (CHN) 11-7, 11-2, 14-12, 11-1

Women’s Doubles
Final
GUO Yan / GUO Yue (CHN) bt DING Ning / LI Xiaoxia (CHN) 6-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-9, 11-2