2015 ITTF Grand Finals: High Speed, Zhai Yujia and Yuya Oshima Reach Title Decider

December 11, 2015

2015 ITTF Grand Finals: High Speed, Zhai Yujia and Yuya Oshima Reach Title Decider
December 10-13, 2015 in Lisbon, Portugal
Courtesy of ITTF

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Fast attacking play, at top speed from the very first point; Denmark’s Zhai Yujia and Japan’s Yuya Oshima emerged successful at the semi-final stage of the Under 21 Men’s Singles event at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon on the morning of Friday December 11th.

Zhai Yujia, the no.2 seed, beat Frenchman, Benjamin Brossier, the no.5 seed (11-5, 11-9, 12-14, 11-4, 11-7) before Yuya Oshima, the no.3 seed, overcame colleague, Masaki Yoshida, the no.6 seed (9-11, 11-5, 14-16, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3).

Confident
“I felt confident before the match because I had won when we played in Kuwait”, said Zhai Yujia.

On that occasion, their only previous meeting, Zhai Yujia had won in four games (11-8, 10-12, 11-1, 11-4) before progressing to beat Belgium’s Robin Devos to secure the title,

Take Care
“Benjamin doesn’t make easy mistakes”, added Zhai Yujia. “You have to take care when you play him, you cannot afford any lapses in concentration.”

Throughout, Zhai Yujia has been guided by He Keyi, quietly sitting courtside, he has masterminded the journey to the final.

“Yujia was not afraid of Benjamin Brossier’s style”, explained He Keyi. “The major difference was that Zhai Yujia was more severe with the first three attacks; however, I must say that since they played in Kuwait, Benjamin has made notable improvement.”

Faster
More severe, in the true style of players whose skills have been honed in China, Zhai Yujia was quicker in two respects; his footwork was slightly faster than that of Benjamin Brossier but the speed at which he executed the first attack in a rally was noticeably faster.

Success for Zhai Yujia was followed by success for Yuya Oshima in contest where the latter eventually asserted his authority on proceedings.

Highlights from the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Lisbon

Familiar
“He knows me so well”, reflected Masaki Yoshida. “Towards the end of the match, his tactics were better; his forehand is so strong, in the rallies, time and again I lost, I had to win the points quickly to have a chance.”

However, Masaki Yoshida gave a good account of himself, just as in previous meetings.

Previous Meetings
On the international scene, they had met on two occasions.

Both on the GAC Group ITTF World Tour, Masaki Yoshida had won in four straight games in their quarter-final Men’s Singles encounter in 2014 in the Czech Republic; earlier this year Yuya Oshima had responded in Japan to beat Masaki Yoshida in the final of the Under 21 Men’s Singles competition in four games.

RESULTS