Germany's Ying stuns top seeded Tianwei

By Sports Reporter/Doha

GREAT SHOW: Han Ying

Germany’s Han Ying created a major upset in the opening round of the women’s singles event of the GAC Group 2012 ITTF World Tour Qatar Open by shocking top seed Singapore’s Feng Tianwei 4-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-5, 11-2, 11-9 at the Women's Sports Hall here yesterday.Ying, who had never gone beyond the first round of a women’s singles event on the ITTF Pro Tour, was playing her first ever ITTF World Tour. The 28-yr-old hails from Liaoning in China and has played in the German Bundesliga for almost ten years and currently represents MYV Tostedt.“It was really difficult mentally today”, said Han Ying, who showed no signs whatsoever of feeling pressure and remained calm and composed throughout. “Feng Tianwei is no.5 seed in the world; it was hard for me to believe I could beat someone who is that high on the rankings. It’s the first time I’ve played her. I tried to be aggressive,” revealed a beaming Ying. Poland’s Katarzyna Grzybowska over China’s Wen Jia 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 12-10 and there were wins for the Chinese duo of Chen Meng and Li Xiaodan.Chen Meng beat Japan’s Sayaka Hirano, the no.5 seed 11-4, 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 and Li Xiaodan defeated Korea’s Jeon Ji Hee, the no.15 seed 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9. Upsets were caused by Georgina Pota, who stunned Hong Kong’s Jiang Huajun, the no.6 seed 11-9, 11-6, 11-5, 3-11, 15-13. Dang Ye Seo also got the better of seventh seed Singapore’s Li Jiawei 11-3, 11-9, 12-10, 12-10. In the men's section, top seeded players sailed smoothly.Chinese trio of Wang Hao, Xu Xin and Ma Lin all registered authoritative victories along with fourth seeded Joo Se Hyuk for Korea. However, there were some upsets in the lower order. Oh Sang Eun, the no.8 seed, Slovenia’s Bojan Tokic, the no.15 seed and Austria’s Chen Weixing, the no.26 seed were all shown the door.The architects of the shock victories were Hong Kong’s Jiang Tianyi, the no. 30 seed, qualifiers Germany’s Patrick Franziska and Korea’s Jeong Sang Eun.Jiang Tianyi recovered from a two games to nil deficit to post a six games win over Oh Sang Eun 4-11, 8-11, 15-13, 11-1, 11-5, 15-13, while Jeong Sang Eun also came from a game down to beat Chen Weixing 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9.Franziska, who stunned legendary Swede Jörgen Persson in the opening round, halted the progress of Bojan Tokic. Against Persson, Franziska had fought back from a three games deficit to secure victory by just two point in the seventh game and against Tokic too he scripted a remarkable recovery. After losing the first two games Franziska won 9-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-5, 3-11, 12-10.In another absorbing contest,   Japan’s Koki Niwa, the no.14 seed, overcame Hong Kong’s Leung Chu Yan in a thrilling seven games contest 11-3, 11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10. Russia’s Alexander Shibaev won the battle of the qualifiers against Portugal’s João Monteiro. He rallied from a  two games loss to secure 9-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-5, 3-11, 12-10 victory.Wang Hao got the better of  Japan’s Kenta Matsudaira, the no.29 seed 11-2, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3), while Xu Xin and Ma Lin both defeated qualifiers. Xu Xin overcame Russia’s Igor Rubtsov 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5 and Ma Lin ended the hopes of Singapore’s Zhan Jian 12-10, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-5.