Promising Start for Werner Schlager on Return to ITTF Pro Tour Duty
September 8, 2006

Courtesy ITTF Austria’s Werner Schlager, the winner of the Men’s Singles title at the Liebherr World Championships in 2003, has the distinction of being the only player to qualify for the Men’s Singles event at every ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals since the competition was first held in Tianjin in December 1996. If he is to maintain that record he needs a series of good performances on the ITTF Pro Tour, as prior to the Volkswagen Open Singapore, he languished in twenty-first place, not having enjoyed the best of fortunes in 2006.

Early Exits
He has appeared on three occasions on the ITTF Pro Tour in 2006 with his best performance being a quarterfinal place at the Salwa Cup Kuwait Open in February; prior to that, he had suffered earlier than expected exits at both the Liebherr Croatian Open and the Liebherr Qatar Open.

In Croatia, he departed proceedings in the third round while in Doha the end of the road came in round two.

Illness
However, in Singapore he has made a good start in his endeavors to climb the Men’s Singles Standings.

In the opening round, he beat Singapore’s Tan Hua in five games to proceed to round two but he had some reservations about his performance. "It was a difficult match for me, I’m really not that pleased with how I played; it was difficult because it’s the first tournament on the ITTF Pro Tour for many months", said Schlager. "I was unable to practice for ages, I had a summer break and then I fell ill with sinusitis."

The effect of the illness hampered Schlager’s training program. "I couldn’t practice for three months, this match necessitated a lot of mental strength and I had to adapt."

Mind Game
Schlager experienced few problems but of course, the opening match is always testing against a qualifier who seeks a major scalp. "Tang Hua played a simple game but a good game, in my view the first round of the Men’s Singles is always hard", said the Austrian. "They are lesser known players, they put in one hundred and fifty percent effort and of course table tennis is very much a mental game, it’s all in the mind."

Success for Werner Schlager but the performance of the round came from Panagiotis Gionis of Greece; he saved six match points in the decisive seventh game against Japan’s Shinnosuke Kiho before emerging successful.

Return
Meanwhile, for China’s Hou Yingchao, the man who won the Men’s Singles title at the World Universities Championships in July 2006, it was a welcome return to international duty. Hou Yingchao has not appeared on the ITTF Pro Tour since the Croatian Open in 2003 or in international competition since the Liebherr World Championships in that year.

In the first round of the Men’s Singles event in Singapore, he beat Japan’s Takahiro Omori in straight games. "Yes, I’m pleased with how I played, Takahiro found my playing style difficult", said Hou Yingchao. "I felt comfortable".

Hou Yingchao is a defender with a strong forehand topspin, in Singapore that technique prevailed and for the man from Beijing it was a happy return.