Timo Boll and Yang Zi Win Battle of Compatriots in Beijing
December 13, 2007

Timo Boll

Courtesy of ITTF It was the battle of the colleagues on Thursday December 13, 2007 in the opening round of the Men’s Singles event at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals in the Olympic Stadium at the Peking University in Beijing. The Germans, Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov faced each other as did the Singaporeans, Gao Ning and Yang Zi.

No doubt it was for all four, it was the opponent they least wanted to meet but such was the draw when made one day earlier.

It was Timo Boll and Yang Zi who emerged victorious.

Timo Boll won 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 while Yang Zi prevailed 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5.

Second Time
It was only the second time in a World ranking event that Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov had faced each other; the one previous occasion being in March earlier in the year, when Timo Boll had won in straight games at the semi-final stage of the Men’s Singles event at the Liebherr European Championships in Belgrade.

In Beijing, Dimitrij Ovtcharov gave the reigning European champion a much tougher test than nine months earlier; a clear indication of the improvement the German teenager has made in 2007.

Not Good
“It doesn’t feel good to be playing against your friend”, said Timo Boll. “We play for the same club but that’s life, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Both play for Borussia Düsselforf in the German Bundesliga and in the European Champions League as does Christian Süss who is in Beijing to partner Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the Men’s Doubles event.

Friends
“Certainly against Dimitrij it was a very tough match”, continued Timo Boll. “We know each other so well.”

The two are firm friends, both respect each other’s talents and Timo Boll was well aware of the importance of the victory. “It’s a very important tournament”, he said. “Everybody wants to improve their ranking and I think the event is becoming more and more important.”

Olympic Chances Boosted
An important win for Timo Boll and an important win for Yang Zi; it boosts his chances of a direct qualification for the Men’s Singles event at the Olympic Games in August 2008 in the very same stadium.

It was the seventh time that Gao Ning and Yang Zi had met in a World ranking event. Yang Zi is now one contest ahead.

Chinese Heroes
Success for Timo Boll and for Yang Zi and to the delight of the home supporters there were victories for two current Chinese heroes. Ma Lin overcame Japan’s Kan Yo and Ma Long defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chuan Chih-Yuan; both victories were recorded in straight games.

Ma Lin won 11-7, 11-9, 15-13, 12-10 while Ma Long succeeded 15-13, 11-5, 13-11, 11-4.

Adapting to the Venue
“I won but it was a tough match”, said Ma Lin. “As this is the venue for the Olympics next year I want to seize the opportunity to play here and to adapt to the conditions.”

He did just that.

National Team
“I wasn’t in very good shape today but it was the first match of the tournament and that’s always difficult”, continued Ma Lin. “Also, Kan Yo used to be in the Chinese National Team and he’s been in very good form recently.”

The year 2007 has been the best of Kan Yo’s career internationally, he won the ITTF Pro Tour tournaments in both Brazil and Chile but against Ma Lin it was a tough task. Ma Lin prevailed and it was farewell Kan Yo.