In Toulouse Success Comes in Threes
China’s Ma Lin and Zhang Yining, the respective top
seeds in the Men’s and Women’s Singles events
at the Liebherr French Open in Toulouse, both justified their
exalted position on Sunday 4th November 2007 by emerging as
champions.
Zhang Yining beat Singapore’s Li Jia Wei in the semis
and compatriot Wang Nan in the final to collect her third
ITTF Pro Tour Women’s Singles title of the year; in
August she won at the Panasonic China Open and one week ago
she prevailed in Wels at the Liebherr Austrian Open.
Similarly for Ma Lin it was his third ITTF Pro Tour Men’s
Singles crown of the year, his previous wins being in Doha
in February at the Liebherr Qatar Open and in Nanjing in July
at the Volkswagen Open China.
At the semi-final stage Ma Lin accounted for his colleague
Ma Long, before beating Wang Hao, also of China, in the final.
Wang Hao who currently occupies the number one spot on the
ITTF Men’s World Ranking list, won a close seven games
semi-final duel against Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus and in
September and October was very much the man in form. In September
he secured the Men’s Singles title at the China Mobile
Asian Championships and in October he won the Liebherr Men’s
World Cup in Barcelona.
Adversaries in the Men’s Singles final but very much
together in the Men’s Doubles final where Ma Lin and
Wang Hao beat Hong Kong’s Ko Lai Chak and Li Ching to
add to the coincidence of three being the prevalent number.
It was their third ITTF Pro Tour Men’s Doubles title
of the year, earlier in 2007 they had won gold at the Croatian
Open and at the Panasonic China Open, whilst for Ko Lai Chak
and Li Ching it was their third consecutive appearance in
a Men’s Doubles final on the ITTF Pro Tour. Two weeks
earlier they had won at the Eurosib Russian Open but last
week in Austria, as in France, the runners up spot was their
lot.
Success for China in the Men’s Doubles final and also
in the Women’s Doubles final where Guo Yan and Wang
Nan emerged victorious. They recovered from a two games to
nil deficit to beat Singapore’s Li Jia Wei and Wang
Yue Gu.
Men’s Singles
SF Ma Lin (CHN) bt Ma Long (CHN) 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8,
11-7
SF Wang Hao (CHN) by Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 12-14, 11-3,
9-11, 14-16, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8
F Ma Lin (CHN) bt Wang Hao (CHN) 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6,
13-11
Women’s Singles
SF Zhang Yining (CHN) bt Li Jia Wei (SIN) 9-11, 12-10, 11-5,
11-8, 11-5
SF Wang Nan (CHN) bt Wang Yue Gu (SIN) 11-5, 10-12, 11-7,
11-3, 11-4
F Zhang Yining (CHN) bt Wang Nan (CHN) 9-11, 12-10, 11-5,
11-8, 11-5
Men’s Doubles
F Ma Lin/Wang Hao (CHN) bt Ko Lai Chak/Li Ching (HKG) 11-3,
11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-3
Women’s Doubles
F Guo Yan/Wang Nan (CHN) bt Li Jia Wei/Wang Yue Gu (SIN)
10-12, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6
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"Source:
ITTF Press Release