Tie Yana Looking to Repeat Brazilian Success
April 18, 2007

Tie Yana, focused on victory in Belo Horizonte, now seeking gold in Santiago Photo By: Marcio Rodrigues

Courtesy of ITTF Hong Kong’s Tie Yana starts as the favorite in Santiago to repeat the success she enjoyed at Liebherr Brazilian Open with concluded in Belo Horizonte on Sunday April 15, 2007. In Brazil, she won the Women’s Singles title and with Zhang Rui the Women’s Doubles’ crown.

At the Liebherr Chile Open, Tie Yana is seeded number one in the Women’s Singles event following the withdrawal through illness of Singapore’s Li Jia Wei, and with Zhang Rui, she is seeded one in the Women’s Doubles competition.

Singapore Opposition
Li Jia Wei may be absent but it is Singapore that could well provide the main threat to Tie Yana winning back-to-back titles.

Wang Yue Gu, the winner of the Women’s Singles title at the Liebherr German Open in November 2006, is seeded two and she has a point to prove. In Belo Horizonte, she failed to reach her allotted place in the draw suffering a third round exit at the hands of the much-improved Russian defender, Svetlana Ganina.

In Santiago, she will be seeking to lay the ghosts of one week earlier to rest.

Colleagues Strong Adversaries
The level of play extolled by Wang Yue Gu has certainly improved since she made her debut on the ITTF Pro in June 2005 at the Volkswagen Open Korea in Suncheon and she is a strong medal candidate in Santiago. Singapore certainly poses a threat to Tie Yana but so does Hong Kong with her colleagues Jiang Huajun being seeded four and Lin Ling seeded five.

Jiang Huajun, the player whose backhand has caused many adversary problems including the redoubtable Zhang Yining, is in the same half of the draw as Tie Yana. Meanwhile, Lin Ling, the reigning Asian Women’s Singles champion is in the same quarter.

Repeat
However, a repeat of the Women’s Singles final at the Liebherr Brazilian Open is a theoretical possibility.

Japan’s Ai Fukuhara, the silver medalist in Belo Horizonte, is seeded four and is in the lower half of the draw; the half of the draw in which appears Wang Chen of the United States. She is a vastly experienced player, has ITTF Pro Tour titles to her credit and is a match for anyone.

No Titles
Tie Yana, the top seed in the Women’s Singles event has six ITTF Pro Tour Women’s Singles titles to her credit. In the counterpart men’s event, the top four players are all competitors who have come so near yet so far.

All are players who have threatened, all are dangerous but none possesses an ITTF Pro Tour Men’s Singles title. The effervescent Li Ching of Hong Kong is seeded one, while Austria’s, Chen Weixing is the second seed. In the same half of the draw as Li Ching in third seed is Russia’s Alexei Smirnov, while fourth seed Ko Lai Chak, also from Hong Kong, is in the lower half.

Tasted Gold
No ITTF Pro Tour Men’s Singles titles for the top four but Singapore’s Gao Ning the number five seed and Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive, the number six seed have both tasted gold.

Gao Ning, the runner up in Belo Horizonte, won at Indian Open earlier in the year while Jean-Michel Saive has stood on the top step of the medal podium on three occasions in Men’s Singles events on the ITTF Pro Tour.

One Step Higher
Seeded seven is Singapore’s Yang Zi while the eighth seed is Japan’s Koji Matsushita; however, the name to watch is that of the ninth seed, Austria’s Robert Gardos.

At the Liebherr Chile Open in 2006, he excelled; he won the Men’s Doubles title with Chen Weixing and was within a whisker of winning the Men’s Singles crown, he lost at the final hurdle to the outstanding Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus.

Robert Gardos will be seeking to go one-step better in the Men’s Singles event and to retain his Men’s Doubles title where, with Chen Weixing, he is seeded two. The top seeds are Singapore’s Gao Ning and Yang Zi, the runners up at last week’s Liebherr Brazilian Open.

Second Seeded Japanese
Meanwhile, in the Women’s Doubles event Japan’ s Ai Fukuhara and Haruna Fukuoka are seeded two.

In the Under 21 events the top two seeds in the men’s event are Korea’s Cho Eon Rae and Japan’s Kenta Matsudaira with the women’s competition seeing Singapore’s Yu Meng Yu and Korea’s Jee Min Hyung occupying first and second seeded places respectively.

Schedule
Play starts on Wednesday April 18, 2007 with the qualification stages of both the Men’s and Women’s Singles events, matches in the Main Draw commence on Friday April 20, 2007 with the finals being played on Sunday April 22, 2007.