Daniela Dodean Joins Colleague in Volkswagen Women’s World Cup Line-Up

September 17, 2012

Courtesy of ITTF

A glittering record in junior days, Romania’s Daniela Dodean will play in the Volkswagen 2012 Women’s World Cup to be staged in the Chinese city of Huangshi from Friday to Sunday, September 21 to 23rd.

She replaces Korea’s Kim Kyungah who has withdrawn from the three-day event.

The inclusion on Daniela Dodean means that she is one of two Romanians in the line-up, the other being Elizabeta Samara, a player who like her compatriot enjoyed outstanding success in teenage days.

Both have been crowned European Youth champions.

Twice Met in Final
Daniela Dodean won the Cadet Girls’ Singles title in Moscow in 2002 and then donned the Junior Girls’ crown in 2005 in Ostrava and 2006 in Sarajevo beating Elizabeta Samara on both occasions in the final.

However, Elizabeta Samara, one year younger than her nemesis did taste success; she secured the Junior Girls’ Singles title in 2007 in Bratislava.

ITTF Junior Circuit
Both have a host of ITTF Junior Circuit titles to their credit and both have emerged as champions at the ITTF Junior Circuit Finals.

Daniela Dodean won six times on the ITTF Junior Circuit, winning at the Finals in Funchal in 2004; while Elizabeta Samara won no less than nine ITTF Junior Girls’ Singles titles and the Finals in Santo Domingo in 2005.

Reached Latter Stages
However, as yet, neither has won an ITTF Pro Tour or GAC GROUP 2012 ITTF World Tour Women’s Singles title, both have come close but as yet have not crossed the finishing line.

Elizabeta Samara was the runner up in Hungary in 2010; while on three occasions, Daniela Dodean has reached the semi-final stage. She progressed to the penultimate round in Poland in 2008 and 2010, while in 2010 she reached the same stage in Qatar.

Chinese Representatives
The Romanians are two changes to the original list of invitees; the two notable names who will not be on duty are China’s Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia, the two players who contested the Women’s Singles final at the recent London Olympic Games.

Representing China will be Liu Shiwen and Guo Yue; for Liu Shiwen it will be only her second appearance in the tournament; on the one previous occasion in which she competed she emerged as the champion.

In 2009 she won in Guangzhou, the player she beat in the final? It was Guo Yue.

Confirmed Players
The confirmed list of players is as follows:
African Representative: Offiong Edem (Nigeria)
Asian Representative: Liu Shiwen (China)
European Representative: Li Jiao (Netherlands)
Latin American Representative: Caroline Kumahara (Brazil)
North American Representative: Ariel Hsing (U.S.A.)
Oceania Representative: Li Chunli (Australia)

World Ranking: Kasumi Ishikawa (Japan), Feng Tianwei (Singapore), Guo Yue (China), Tie Yana (Hong Kong), Wu Jiaduo (Germany), Shen Yanfei (Spain), Viktoria Pavlovich (Belarus), Dang Yeseo (Korea), Jiang Huajun (Hong Kong), Yu Mengyu (Singapore), Elizabeta Samara (Romania), Daniela Dodean (Romania)

ITTF Wild Card: Matilda Ekholm (Sweden)

Reserve: Liu Jia (Austria)