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All the 10 tables were filled by players, but no one sees Timo Boll even in the bleachers. |
At the start of the 2013 Qatar World Tour Table Tennis Open yesterday morning, fans and players have been looking for him but to no avail. Only a “no” answer could be heard from his colleagues. “He will not be here,” they stressed.
Ian Marshall from the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) told Gulf Times that Boll will not play this year’s Qatar Open. “With regards to the place, it’s the decision of the players. Sometimes with the European players, they have very very high commitment with their clubs there,” he said. Instead of touring to other places, Marshall disclosed that athletes may either want to rest or play in a club competition.
Boll’s backhand topspins and counter topspins will be missed. However, Chinese players never fail to entertain the audience with their speed, agility and spectacular moves during competitions. They remain to be the team to beat in all ITTF World Tours and international tournaments including the Qatar Open. Olympic champion Zhang Jike, runner-up Wang Hao and world number one Xu Xin will all play on Friday at the Women’s Sports Hall in Aspire Zone for the Men’s singles matches. The Chinese national team took time to practice yesterday morning.
In the qualifying matches, their teammate Yan An defeated India’s Soumyadeep Roy, 4-2. Yan An took the first two sets but failed to make an easy win after the third and fifth sets (6-11, 8-11). The Chinese player unleashed powerful forehand topspins using third ball attacks in the sixth set to finish the match at 11-1. Yan An rallied during the start of the set, scoring seven to nothing run from Roy who earlier defeated a Swedish player in a close fight, 4-3.
There are no major upsets on the qualifying matches of the men and women’s singles, but Marshall cited Italy’s Leonardo Mutti’s win over Russia’s Mikhail Gladyshev in five sets (11-6, 11-7, 11-6, 12-14, 11-7). Ranked 306 in the world, 17-year-old Mutti had overcome a major barrier from the 29-year-old and ranked 271st opponent, giving him a chance for the main draw and play in the next round.
“When you talk about players in the 200 or 300 rankings, the difference is very minimal,” Marshall said. “To get into the top 20 in the world is difficult, but to get into the top 10 is even more difficult. When you are in the 150 to 300 rank, the difference is much less,” he added. Asked about new developments in the Qatar Open this year, Marshall explained that it has three levels. First is the challenge level, second is the major series, and then the highest level is the super series. “Every year we raise the standard of presentation, the standard of television coverage, and the standard of prizes,” he said. Marshall is also the editor of the ITTF publication.
Meanwhile, showing more patience far from the table, Nonaka Yuki of Japan defeated Lee Hyunju of South Korea, 4-1, in the women’s singles during the qualifying matches. Yuki’s backspin variations gave Lee a hard time to deal with it committing numerous errors at the middle of every set. The latter wanted to get even by using drop shots but the Japanese player was consistent. Yuki was only three points behind during the third set.
Using forehand topspins and drop shots, Lee got even at 8-8 in the 5th set but missed a possibly good service and gave her opponent the chance to take a two point lead. Nonaka won by two points, 11-9 to qualify for the next round. In another nerve-wracking game, Miyu Kato of Japan trounced her European opponent, 4-3 after almost losing the match from an early two sets lead. Using consistent forehand and backhand topspins, Alexandra Privalova of Belarus forced Kato in a deciding game 3-3. In the final set, Privalova got the momentum in the middle game when she took the lead at 6-3. However, Kato cut the lead to two with an edge ball, and an unforced backhand error from the European. Even after seeking a timeout, the lady from Belarus failed to recover from 10-7 and eventually lost.
In the afternoon, world number 327 Khalid Assar of Egypt defeated rank 84th Cazuo Matsumoto of Brazil, the first recorded upset of the day. Matsumoto took the first set, 14-16, but failed to sustain his offense and eventually succumbed to an 11-6, 13-11, 11-7, 11-4 loss in the last sets. The Brazilian won the Men’s Singles title at the ITTF 2013 World Tour Spanish Open in Almeria. Meanwhile, Ukranian Tetyana Bilenko recovered from a 3-1 card against Yui Sato of Japan, winning in the Women’s singles, 4-3 (11-6, 11-13, 3-11, 12-14, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7). Lin Ye of Singapore defeated 17-year old Reem El-Eraky of Egypt, 4-1. Ranked 589th, El-Eraky admitted that she still lacks experience especially in the international arena.
The Egyptian took a lead in the fourth set, 9-8, but the Singaporean used her time out to stop her opponent’s momentum. El-Eraky lost at 14-12. It was a close fight in the fifth set but Lin Ye prevailed, 11-8.