GAC Group 2011 World Table Tennis Championships: Top Chinese challengers of the event
The GAC Group 2011 World Table Tennis Championships is going to start from May 8.
The Chinese men’s team is fully prepared for the challenge. It was in Austria for an intense training session which concluded Friday.
The Chinese team not only improved their game but also focussed on the playing tactics of players from other nations who can cause serious injuries to their game. Therefore, the team is keeping a close watch on their opponents’ moves.
The biggest challenge for the team will be coming from Timo Boll. He will be leading the German team during the Championship. Timo was the number one player on the International Table Tennis Federation men’s singles world ranking. He has now slipped to the
second seed in the current ranking. Timo has won the World Table Tennis Cup twice in 2002 and 2004. He is one of those players who know how to take down the Chinese players.
He has given a tough time to the Chinese players on the ITTF Pro Tours circuit in 2011. At the Qatar Open, he defeated Zhang Jike at the semi-final stage and proceeded to the finals. He was defeated by Xu Xin at the final hurdle of the event. In the German
Open, he won over Hao Shuai and Ma Lin who are considered amongst the top Chinese men’s players. He reached the finals but eventually lost against Zhang Jike.
In the Volkswagen Cup, he was the biggest competitor against the Asian players. He reached the finals where he was defeated by Wang Hao 11-9, 5-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6 and 11-7. The defeat downgraded his ITTF ranking.
Timo will be on the forefront in the fight against the Chinese players. He has entered his thirties but his game has not deteriorated with his age. He still is in a very good condition to compete against the top Chinese players.
For the Chinese men Timo Boll is not the only challenge. They will face strong threat from players like Vladimir Samsonov from Belarus, Joo Se-Hyuk, Oh Sang Eun, Ryu Seung-Min from Korea and Jun Mizutani from Japan. These players have shown a very impressive
performance in 2011 on the ITTF Pro Tour circuit. Therefore, the Chinese players have to be fully prepared to face the challenge.
An exciting show of table tennis is coming soon. With such a list of strong contenders will the Chinese succeed in the championship?
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