4/15/2007 2007 LIEBHERR Brazilian Open

Japan’s Kan Yo won his first ever title on the ITTF Pro Tour when he beat Singapore’s Gao Ning in the final of the Men’s Singles event at the Liebherr Brazilian Open in Belo Horizonte on Sunday 15th April 2007.

It was a surprise victory. Gao Ning was the top seed whilst Kan Yo was seeded seven. Furthermore, on the one previous occasion they had met in a World Ranking event, success had gone the way of Gao Ning.

 4/15/2007 2007 LIEBHERR Brazilian Open

It was the ninth time that Hong Kong’s Tie Yana, the number two seed, and Japan’s Ai Fukuhara, the number four seed, had met in international competition. History favoured Tie Yana, she had won six of the nine contests and more importantly she had won on their last three meetings, the most recent being in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Singles event in Doha when at the quarter-final stage she had prevailed in seven games.

In Belo Horizonte Tie Yana won again, she succeeded 11-4, 4-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-8.

 4/15/2007 2007 LIEBHERR Brazilian Open

Korea’s Cho Eon Rae and Ko Jae Bok were the surprise winners of the Men’s Doubles title at the Liebherr Brazilian Open in Belo Horizonte on Sunday 15th April 2007 beating top seeds, Singapore’s Gao Ning and Yang Zi in the final.

A surprise perhaps but Cho Eon Rae in particular has proved himself a fine player on the ITTF Pro Tour in 2007. He has won three Under 21 Men’s Singles titles and at the Liebherr Qatar Open won the Men’s Doubles crown with Le Jung Woo.

 4/15/2007 2007 LIEBHERR Brazilian Open

Hong Kong versus Japan was the order of the day in the Women’s Doubles final at the Liebherr Brazilian Open with Tie Yana and Zhang Rui facing Hiroko Fujii and Saki Kanazawa.

It was a contest of a tried and trusted pairing against a comparatively untried outfit. Tie Yana and Zhang Rui have eight career Women’s Doubles titles to their credit on the ITTF Pro Tour, Hiroko Fujii and Saki Kanazawa have yet to open their account. The outcome was the more experienced duo prevailed. Tie Yana and Zhang Rui won 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-3, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8

 4/15/2007 2007 LIEBHERR Brazilian Open

The second semi-final in the Men’s Singles event at the Liebherr Brazilian Open in Belo Horizonte saw a clash of two attacking styles of play.

For Sweden it was the left handed topspin style of the shakehands grip player, Pär Gerell. For Japan it was the powerful right handed penholder, Kan Yo; a player who executes his skills using both sides of the racket and employs the modern day topspin from the backhand side of the racket.

The verdict to Kan Yo. He won 4-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6.

 4/15/2007 2007 LIEBHERR Brazilian Open

Singapore’s Gao Ning reached the final of the Men’s Singles event at the Liebherr Brazilian Open in Belo Horizonte on Sunday 15th April 2007 beating a spirited Dimitrj Ovtcharov of Germany at the penultimate stage.

The German, motivated by his success in the recent European Championships, did himself credit but the fact that Gao Ning had played in two previous ITTF Pro Tour Men’s Singles semi-finals and it was Dimitrij Ovtcharov’s first, eventually told.

 4/15/2007 2007 LIEBHERR Brazilian Open

Seeded in the number two position, Tie Yana beat Russia’s Svetlana Ganina in four straight games to reach the final of the Women’s Singles event at the Liebherr Brazilian Open in Belo Horizonte on Sunday 15th April 2007.

Tie Yana won 15-13, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6

It was the third time they had met on the ITTF Pro Tour, honours in the two previous meetings having being shared.