Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals
Host Nation Dominant
The host nation dominated matters on the penultimate day
of play, Saturday 15th December 2007, at the Volkswagen Pro
Tour Grand Finals in the Olympic Stadium at the Peking University
in Beijing; the end result being that only one contest on
the final day of play will see players, other than those born
in China, in action.
Korea’s Kim Kyung Ah and Park Mi Young are the interlopers;
in the semi-finals of the Women’s Doubles event they
beat second seeds, Tie Yana and Zhang Rui of Hong Kong, to
book their place in the final where they meet the number one
seeds, China’s Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia.
At the semi-final stage Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia defeated Singapore’s
Li Jia Wei and Wang Yue Gu.
A reverse for the Singaporeans and they also suffered in
the Women’s Singles event, where the Chinese quartet
of Guo Yue, Guo Yan, Zhang Yining and Li Xiaoxia emerged victorious.
Li Jia Wei lost to Zhang Yining, whilst Wang Yue Gu suffered
at the hands of Li Xiaoxia.
Earlier in the afternoon Guo Yue had beaten Hong Kong’s
Jiang Huajun and Guo Yan had won the all-Chinese battle against
Wang Nan.
Similarly in the Men’s Singles competition all four
semi-finalists are from China.
Top seed Ma Lin beat Germany’s Timo Boll, Ma Long ended
the hopes of Singapore’s Yang Zi, Wang Liqin defeated
colleague Chen Qi and Wang Hao accounted for Vladimir Samsonov
of Belarus.
Success for the Chinese men at the quarter-final stage of
the Men’s Singles event and also in the penultimate
round of the Men’s Doubles; Chen Qi and Wang Liqin ended
the title aspirations of Hong Kong’s Ko Lai Chak and
Li Ching, whilst the duel between the Chinese pairings saw
Ma Lin and Wang Hao overcome the defending champions Hao Shuai
and Ma Long.
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"Source:
ITTF Press Release