by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
However, though the score-line reflects a hard fought encounter: it does not reflect the drama of the duel.
Throughout the deciding game Liu Hsing-Yin trailed; she was behind 6-8 before levelling at 8-all. A revival, it appeared such a possibility had been thwarted; Dana Cechova won the next two points and again at 11-10 held a third match point but could not convert.
“Losing 10-8 in the seventh game I focused on trying to play my game, to be the first to play a top spin. I felt I could win playing wide to her forehand from my forehand, creating a wide angle. She was very powerful but perhaps not too fast in the way she played.” Liu Hsing-Yin
Victory by the very narrowest of margins for Liu Hsing-Ying; it was the very same China’s Wang Yidi, the runner up in the Girls’ Singles event at the 2015 World Junior Championships in La Roche-sur-Yon. Not only did Wang Yidi emulate Liu Hsing-Yin by keeping calm and focused when circumstances demanded clear thinking, she thwarted a brave recovery by the 24 year old Russian (11-8, 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 7-11, 12-10).
Full distance seven games duels in the opening series of matches in the Women’s Singles Qualification Tournament and there were two more. Singapore’s Yu Mengyu kept her nerve to beat Korea’s Kim Jiho 5-11, 12-10, 8-11, 18-16, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7), by a similar margin, Luxembourg’s Sarah de Nutte, underlined her strong mental attributes to defeat Korea’s Shin Yubin (11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-3).
