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Olympic Champion on Course in Santiago

Korea’s Ryu Seung Min, the reigning Olympic champion, secured his place in the semi-final stage of the Men’s Singles event at the Chile Open in Santiago with a brace of typically athletic victories on Saturday 26th April 2008.

In the third round he beat the gallant Frenchmen Adrien Mattenet before overcoming Chinese Taipei’s Chuan Chih-Yuan.

Success for the man who won gold in the Galatsi Stadium in Athens in 2004 but for the man who won gold one year ago at the Chile Open it was defeat. Japan’s Kan Yo was beaten in straight games by the sheer speed of Hong Kong’s Li Ching at the quarter-final stage.

Victory for Li Ching in the round of the last eight but not for his colleagues; Jian Tianyi lost to Korea’s Yoon Jae Young and Cheung Yuk was beaten by Japan’s Kaii Yoshida.

At the semi-final stage Yoon Jae Young meets Kaii Yoshida whilst Li Ching confronts Ryu Seung Min.

Two players from Korea through to the penultimate stage of the Men’s Singles event and it is the same in the Women’s Singles competition; two of their female players have booked their semi-final places

In the quarter-finals Kim Kyung Ah beat Wang Chen of the United States, who one round earlier had beaten third seed Li Jiao of the Netherlands, whilst in the battle of the two defenders Park Mi Young overcame Li Jiao’s compatriot Li Jie. The latter had excelled in round three; in a thrilling seven games duel the Dutch player defeated Hong Kong’s Jiang Huajun, the defending champion.

Similarly, two players from Singapore progressed safely to the semi-final stage in the Women’s Singles event, Li Jia Wei, the number one seed and Feng Tianwei, the number seven seed.

At the quarter-final stage, Li Jia Wei accounted for colleague Sun Bei Bei, whilst Feng Tianwei ended the hopes of the number three seed, Hong Kong’s Tie Yana.

In the semi-finals Li Jia Wei meets Feng Tianwei and Kim Kyung Ah confronts Park Mi Young; one factor is certain, the final will be Singapore versus Korea.

Also in the Women’s Doubles there was success for Singapore with Li Jia Wei and Sun Bei Bei recording a semi-final success against Li Jiao and Li Jie to book a place in the final against Hong Kong’s Jiang Huajun and Tie Yana. They ousted top seeds Kim Kyung Ah and Kim Bok Rae in the semis.

Furthermore, in the Men’s Doubles semi-finals Singapore had cause to celebrate with Gao Ning and Yang Zi overcoming Chuan Chih-Yuan and Wu Chih-Chi whilst in the counterpart semi-final, Hong Kong’s Cheung Yuk and Li Ching defeated Korea’s Ryu Seung Min and Yoon Jae Young.

Meanwhile, in the events to be completed on Saturday 26th April 2008, Portugal’s Marcos Freitas won the Under 21 Men’s Singles crown overcoming Korea’s Lee Sang Su in the final whilst in an all Japanese Under 21 Women’s Singles final Misako Wakamiya defeated Yuka Ishigaki.