SPORTS NEWS UK WITH TRY MY SPORT

Age Difference Makes No Difference

A teenager and a forty-five year old were the players to attract the attention at the Liebherr Austrian Open in Wels on Saturday 27th October 2007.

In the Women’s Doubles event, eighteen year old Ai Fukuhara partnering her Japanese compatriot, Sayaka Hirano, caused one of the year’s biggest upsets. They beat China’s Wang Nan and Zhang Yining, the reigning Olympic and World champions at the quarter-final stage of the Women’s Doubles event.

The duo maintained their form at the semi-final stage to overcome Gao Jun of the United States and Shen Yanfei of Spain in the semis; in the final on Sunday 28th October 2007, they will meet Hong Kong’s Lin Ling and Tie Yana. Seeded three they beat second seeds, Singapore’s Li Jia Wei and Wang Yue Gu at the penultimate stage.

Meanwhile in the Men’s Singles event, forty-five year old He Zhi Wen of Spain defied the years to overcome Russia’s He Alexei Smirnov in the third round and Hong Kong’s Cheung Yuk in the quarters, to book his place in the semi-finals.

At the penultimate stage he meets Germany’s Bastian Steger who accounted for third seed, Austria’s Werner Schlager in round three and Japan’s Jun Mizutani in the quarters.

Defeat for the third seed but no such problems for the players seeded one and four. Top seed China’s Chen Qi ended the hopes colleague Qiu Yike in the quarters to reserve his place in the penultimate round, whilst Hong Kong’s Li Ching halted the progress of Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive at the same stage.

Problems for seeds in the Men’s Singles but not in the Women’s Singles event where the top four seeds all prospered.

At the quarter-final stage the Chinese trio all impressed. Top seed Zhang YIning beat Singapore’s Wang Yue Gu, second seed Wang Nan overcame Hong Kong’s Lin Ling and third seed Guo Yan defeated colleague Fan Ying. Not to be left out, fourth seed Singapore’s Li Jia Wei accounted for Japan’s Ai Fukuhara.

Safe passages for the top seeds in the Women’s Singles and in the Men’s Doubles the number one and two seeded pairings both enjoyed semi-final victories. Top seeds Singapore’s Gao Ning and Yang Zi beat the Czech Republic qualifiers Martin Olejnik and Richard Vyborny, whilst second seeds, Hong Kong’s Ko Lai Chak and Li Ching overcame China’s Chen Qi and Qoi Yike.

In the two events that were decided on Saturday 17th October 2007, Croatia’s Andrej Gacina won the Under 21 Men’s Singles crown beating Singapore’s Ma Liang in the final whilst in the counterpart women’s event, Ma Liang’s compatriot, Feng Tianwei, clinched gold by overcoming Poland’s Li Qian in the final.

It was sweet revenge for Feng Tianwei who had lost to Li Qian in the Under 21 Women’s Singles final one week earlier at the Eurosib Russian Open and it was her third Under 21 Women’s Singles crown of the year in six outings. In the other three she has always lost to the eventual winner and only on her debut in Japan did she not reach the final.