22 Dec 2017

Gold in both the Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles events at the 2017 United States Open, Japan’s Taimu Arinobu departed Las Vegas on Thursday 21st December, as one of the most successful players in the whole tournament.

Titles for Taimu Arinobu but there were plenty of casualties; Croatia’s Tomislav Pucar and Canada’s Jeremy Hazin both departed earlier than anticipated as did the host nation’s Kanak Jha and Timothy Wang.

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

In the final of the Men’s Singles event, Taimu Arinobu beat colleague, Kohei Morimoto (11-7, 11-13, 13-11, 8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7), after having one round earlier overcome Tao Weizheng of the United States (11-13, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6) and doubles partner Tomoya Fujimura in the round of the last eight (8-11, 11-7, 12-11, 11-5, 11-8).

Impressive, it was similar n the opposite half of the draw. At the same stages, Kohei Morimoto recorded a quarter-final success against Tian Ye (11-8, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9), prior to reserving his place in the final courtesy of success in opposition to a further United States player in the guise of Wu Junchan (11-5, 11-7, 11-4, 11-7).

Unexpected semi-finalists; in round two, Tomislav Pucar, the top seed, in his very first match of the event, had lost the veteran French star Damien Eloi (11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 8-11, 13-11, 7-11, 11-9), who one round later had suffered at the hands of Tao Weizheng (9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 3-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9). Most certainly Tao Weizheng was in good form; at the quarter-final stage, he ended the hopes of another celebrated European; he beat Poland’s Lucjan Blaszczyk (11-13, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6).

Farewell, in their opening engagement, it was exactly the same for Timothy Wang, the no.3 seed and for Jeremy Hazin the no.4 seed; for Kanak Jha it was only marginally better, he experienced defeat in round three.

Like Tomislav Pucar, the trio all received a direct entry to round two. Timothy Wang lost to quarter-finalist Tian Ye (5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 12-10, 9-11, 12-10); Jeremy Hazin was beaten by the 2015 champion Wang Jinxin (12-10, 11-2, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 who one round later lost to the inform Tao Weizheng (11-8, 11-8, 12-10, 11-2, 2-11, 11-8), whilst Kanak Jha departed at the hands of bronze medallist Wu Junhan (11-9, 2-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-3).

The top prize for Taimu Arinobu, it was the same in the Men’s Doubles competition in partnership with Tomoya Fujimura; the duo sealed the title at the final expense of the host country’s Bob Chen and Kanak Jha (11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8).
Two titles secured by Taimu Arinobu, it was almost three; partnering colleague Mayu Baba, the duo experienced defeat in the Mixed Doubles final. They were beaten by colleagues Kohei Morimoto and Yuki Shoji (4-11, 14-12, 13-11, 7-11, 11-3, 5-11, 11-6).

Notably later in the proceedings, Yuki Shoji won the Women’s Singles title overcoming Chiaki Kato in the final (8-11, 12-10, 9-11, 15-13, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4).

Meanwhile for Tomislav Pucar, there was success to balance the disappointment of the Men’s Singles early loss. He won the Men’s Singles title beating Ma Jinbao in the final (11-8, 5-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10), having at the semi-final stage ended the progress of Victor Liu (11-6, 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8).

Pertinently, in the opposite half of the draw, Ma Jinbao had caused an upset of note at the quarterfinal stage by overcoming Kanak Jha, the no.2 seed (11-6, 11-7, 11-13, 11-9, 11-7), prior to recording a semi-final success in opposition to Wu Junhan (11-8, 9-11, 13-11, 15-13, 10-12, 8-11, 11-5).

2017 United States Open: Full Results – Group Stage & Main Draw</A

General News 2017 United States Open