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Swedish Open

Points to Prove

China’s Wang Hao and Guo Yue are the top seeds in the Men’s and Women’s Singles events at the Swedish Open which starts in Stockholm on Wednesday 14th November and concludes with the finals on Sunday 18th November 2007.

Both have points to prove; at the recently completed Liebherr German Open, Wang Hao, the winner of the Liebherr Men’s World Cup title in October, was beaten in the third round of the Men’s Singles event by colleague and eventual champion, Ma Long; whilst Guo Yue, the reigning Women’s Singles World champion, lost in round three to sixteen year old Liu Shiwen, also from China.

Meanwhile, a third player with a point to prove is Wang Liqin, the man who was crowned World champion for a third time in May when he succeeded at the Liebherr World Championships. The Swedish Open is his ninth appearance on the ITTF Pro Tour in 2007 and in his eight appearances to date; he has not succeeded in clinching the Men’s Singles title.

Wang Hao and Ma Lin occupy the top two seeded positions in the Men’s Singles event whilst the top two in the counterpart female competition are Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia, the two players who contested the final of the Women’s Singles event at the Liebherr World Championships in May.

However, the player to watch is their Chinese national team compatriot, Cao Zhen.

She returned to international duty at the Liebherr German Open one week ago and reached the final of the Women’s Singles event. Two years ago she won the Women’s Singles crown at the Swedish Open and if she is to reach the final again it will be a long road. Prior to her appearance at the Liebherr German Open she had not played internationally for over a year; therefore her World ranking had lapsed and competing in the qualification stages in necessary.

The Swedish Open is the seventeenth and final tournament on the ITTF Pro Tour in 2007; following the conclusion of proceedings the players who have qualified for the Volkswagen Pro Grand Finals in Beijing (13th-16th December 2007) will be known.

The top sixteen players in the Men’s and Women’s Singles Standings, the top eight pairs in the Men’s and Women’s Doubles Standings plus the top eight in the Under 21 Men’s and Women’s Singles Standings qualify for the prestigious end of year event.

In Stockholm, the first two days are devoted to the qualification rounds with the matches in the main draw commencing on Friday 16th November 2007.