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| THE STARS: Xu Xin of China and Feng Tanwei of Singapore |
Some of the elite men’s Chinese paddlers will be seen in action at the Qatar Open table tennis tournament starting today.
Defending champion Xu Xin, as always, will be facing a stiff challenge from compatriots Wang Hao and Ma Lin. Hao is top seed here followed by Xu Xin and Ma Lin. The only player who looks like give the Chinese a run for their money is sixth seeded Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany.
Ovtcharov recently won the Europe Top 12 title and looks in fine touch. He won without being extended the full seven-game distance. In the five matches he played, he was extended to six games only once, by Chen Weixing in the semis.
Also in good form is no 4 seed Joo Se Hyuk of South Korea. Others to watch out for are Japan’s Jun Mizutani, Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan, Joo Se Hyuk and Oh Sang Eun.
In the doubles event, Ma Lin and Xu Xin are the no.1 seeds and they start as out and out favourites.
However, the top women Chinese stars have given the event a miss, and Singapore’s Feng Tianwei makes her first appearance of the year on the Gac Group 2012 ITTF World Tour, when she competes here.
The winner on the 2011 ITTF Pro Tour in Korea and Japan, Feng Tanwei is the top seed among women.
However, the main thorn in Tanwei’s way will be 11th seeded China’s Wen Jia. The loss at the hands of Jia at the Volkswagen China Open, staged in Shenzhen in June, will be still fresh in Tanwei’s mid.