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Liebherr German Open

Like a Good Wine He Zhi Wen Improves with Age

Spain’s forty-five year old He Zhi Wen defied sporting logic in the Men’s Singles event at the Liebherr German Open in Bremen on Friday 9th November 2007.

Runner up in the Men’s Singles event two weeks earlier at the Liebherr Austrian Open, he beat Korea’s Ryu Seung, the reigning Olympic champion in seven games to secure his place in round three.

The win enhances the adopted Spaniard’s chances of a direct entry for the Men’s Singles event the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008; the top twenty players on the ITTF World Ranking list to be published on 3rd January 2008, with the proviso that there is a maximum of two from any one country, determines who will be in Beijing without the need to compete in continental qualification competitions.

Prior to the Liebherr German Open, He Zhiwen was just outside a qualification place.

The victory recorded by He Zhi Wen was one of two shock results in the second round of the Men’s Singles event. Germany’s Christian Süss proved the other upset.

He beat number eight seed, China’s Chen Qi, in a thrilling seven games encounter. It was a complete reversal of recent fortunes; in the three most recent tournaments on the ITTF Pro Tour, the German had lost in the opening round whilst in both Russia and Austria, Chen Qi had emerged as the champion.

Two shock results but no such difficulties for the top three seeds; the Chinese trio of Wang Hao, Ma Lin and Wang Liqin emerged successful in round two of the Men’s Singles event as did Germany’s fourth seeded, Timo Boll.

Wang Hao beat Poland’s Lucjan Blaszczyk, Ma Lin overcame Russia’s Alexei Smirnov, Wang Liqin defeated Germany’s Bastian Steger and Timo Boll ended the hopes of Japan’s Jun Mizutani.

Meanwhile, in the Women’s Singles second round matches, Poland’s Li Qian was the player to cause the major upset. Winner of the Under 21 Women’s Singles events at both the recent Eurosib Russian Open and Liebherr French Open, she beat fourth seed, Singapore’s Li Jia Wei.

It was the third time in three consecutive ITTF Pro Tour tournaments that she had faced Li Jia Wei in the Women’s Singles event; she had lost in Austria and France but her victory in Bremen underlined her improvement and the fact she had learned from previous experiences.

Defeat for the number three seed in round two but no problems for the top three seeded Chinese stars.

Top seed, Guo Yue defeated Japan’s Reiko Hiura, second seed Li Xiaoxia overcame Hong Kong’s Zhang Rui and third seed, Guo Yan, ended the progress of Hungary’s Petra Lovas.