By N.D. Prashant
CHINA'S renowned paddler Ma Lin seems to be in no mood to let go the opportunity of completing a hat-trick of titles here in Doha.
Beijing Olympic gold medallist, Lin stormed into the semifinals of the Qatar Open table tennis championship with authoritative victories at the Qatar Sports Club, yesterday.
Lin first tamed Ko Lai Chak of Hong Kong 4-1 (11-8, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6) in the last 16 and went on to beat Young Jae Yoon of Korea 4-0 (11-9, 11-2, 11-5, 11-7) in the quarterfinals.
"I'm very happy with the way things have gone so far in the tournament. I'm playing well and there is no reason why I can't win for the third time in a row," said an elated Lin, who turned 29 on Thursday.
He, however, was of the view that his countrymen will be the main thorn in his road to hat-trick.
"I think it will be a stiff task if I will meet someone from China in the remaining two games. They know my style of play and that can be testing," added Lin, who will meet his countryman and former Qatar Open champion Wang Liqin.
The fourth seed, Liqin entered the semis after brushing aside the challenge from Korea's Joo Se Hyuk 2-4 (11-6, 11-13, 13-11, 8-11, 10-12, 9-11).
Germany's Timo Boll kept the European hopes alive in the tournament by handing Peng Tang of Hong Kong a 4-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5) drubbing. Boll will take on Hao Shuai of China in the semifinals.
Shuai ended the dream run of compatriot Xu Xin, who shocked world No 3 Ma Long in the round of 32 on Thursday.
"I didn't expect to win the match that easy. I have never won against him (Tang) so convincingly; it was heartening. I was tired coming into this match, so to finish the contest quickly was relieving," said the third seed Boll, who has been at the top of his game in the last six months.
Boll is well aware that Shuai will be a hard nut to crack but is up for the challenge.
"The Chinese have always been strong, but I have been playing my best for sometime now. I have won three pro tours and three European tours apart from other tournaments before coming here.
"I think I have managed to breach the gap between me and the Chinese. Tomorrow's semifinals will be a nice preparation ahead of the world championship."
The women's reigning champion Zhang Yining too made it to the last four of the singles with two back-to-back victories.
Yining registered a clean sweep 4-0 (11-8, 11-2, 11-6, 11-5) victory over Italy's Wenling Tan Monfardini in the round of 16 and later in the quarters rallied from a one-game deficit to beat countrypal Yao Yan 4-1 (6-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4).
The other semifinal line-up was completed by Young Mi Park of Korea and Yue Guo of China.
Park confirmed her semifinal berth with victories against Yana Tie of Hungary and countrymate Ding Ning. Guo made it to the last four with wins over Japan's Sayaka Hirono and Hungary's Krisztina Toth.
Meanwhile, the U-21 boys title was won by Kenta Matsudaira of Japan defeating Krisztian Nagy of Hungary 4-1(11-4, 7-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-6). Matsudaira made it to the final beating David Zombori of Hungary, while Nagy made it to the last four thrashing Romania's Ovidiu Ionescu.
The U-21 girls title was bagged by Yuka Ishigaki of Japan after a tooth and nail battle against Hu Melek of Turkey.
The duo were locked two game apiece at one stage but Ishigaki raised her game in the remaining two games to seal the victory at 4-2 (11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-2, 11-2).
RESULTS
Men's quarterfinal: Ma Lin (CHN) bt Young Jae Yoon (KOR) 4-0 (11-9,11-2,11-5,11-7); Wang Liqin (CHN) bt Joo Se Hyuk (KOR) 2-4 (11-6,11-13,13-11,8-11,10-12,9-11); Timo Boll (GER) bt Tang Peng (HKG) 4-0 (11-4,11-6,11-7,11-5); Hao Shuai (CHN) bt Xu Xin (CHN) 4-1 (9-11,11-5,11-6,11-6,11-9)
Women's quarterfinal: Zhang Yining (CHN) bt Yao Yan (CHN) 4-1 (6-11,11-2,11-7,11-8,11-4); Liu Shiwen (CHN) bt Mikie Tasei (Takahashi) (JPN) 1-4 (6-11,12-10,10-12,6-11,10-12); Park Mi Young (KOR) bt Ding Ning (CHN) 4-2 (5-11,15-13,11-8,7-11,11-8,11-8); Guo Yue (CHN) bt Krisztina Toth (HUN) 0-4 (9-11,7-11,5-11,5-11).
Men's doubles semifinal: Ma Long (CHN) / Xu Xin (CHN) bt Kan Yo (JPN)/Mizutani Jun (JPN) 4-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-9, 11-4); Hao Shuai (CHN)/Wang Liqin (CHN) bt Chen Qi (CHN)/Ma Lin (CHN) 4-1(7-11, 14-12, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4).
Women's doubles semifinal: Guo Yue (CHN)/Zhang Yining (CHN) bt Fujii Hiroko (JPN)/Ishikawa Kasumi (JPN) 4-2 (11-6,11-8,15-17,11-5,8-11,11-7); Ding Ning (CHN)/Liu Shiwen (CHN) bt Lee Eun Hee (KOR)/Moon Hyun Jung (KOR) 4-0 (11-6, 11-2, 11-2, 11-7)
U-21 boys final: Kenta Matsudaira (JPN) bt Krisztian Nagy (HUN) 4-1 (11-4,7-11,11-3,11-9,11-6).
U-21 girls final: Yuka Ishigaki (JPN) bt Hu Melek (TUR) 4-2 (11-8,5-11,8-11,11-3,11-2,11-2).
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