08/04/2011
Nikon 2011 Hong Kong Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Premium Junior Circuit
A surprise defeat on the opening day of play for Chinese
Taipei, the second seeds in the Junior Boys’ Team event at the Nikon
Hong Kong Junior and Cadet Open, but when matters concluded on Thursday
4th August 2011, they stood the tallest.
Second place in their
group in the first stage; Hung Tzu-Hsiang, Lee Chia-Sheng and Lai Yi-Yao
had lost to the Japan ‘B’ team comprising Masahiro Otsuka, Tonin
Ryuzaki and Ryotaro Ogata.
However, the young men from Chinese Taipei responded in style to clinch the precious title.
Lee Chia-Sheng, the hero of the hour, not once, not twice but three times!
Photo By: Donald Chin
The Hard Way
Furthermore, they
did things the hard way, the very hard way with 15 year old Lee
Chia-Sheng being very much the Chinese Taipei hero.
Kept Nerve
Three
matches in the second stage of proceedings were needed to arrest the
title. In all three matches the verdict was three-two in favour of
Chinese Taipei, in all three matches Lee Chia-Sheng was required to play
the vital last match to decide the outcome.
On all three occasions he succeeded.
Versus Singapore and Hong Kong
Against
Singapore he was beaten by Pang Xue Jie in the first match of the
fixture (12-10, 2-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4) but then recovered to beat
Clarence Chew (11-6, 11-9, 11-9); then in opposition to Hong Kong ‘A’,
he proved the backbone of success.
He beat Chiu Chung Hei (11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6) before ending matters with victory over Lin Jingjie (11-9, 11-5, 13-15, 11-2).
Nail-Biting
The
win booked Chinese Taipei a place in the final and then it was back to
the heroics; in the second match of the fixture he suffered defeat
against Yuto Muramatsu before clinching gold for Chinese Taipei by
overcoming Asuka Sakai (9-11, 11-6, 14-12, 11-6).
It was nail-biting throughout, the difference between a quarter-final exit and gold was minimal.
Hung Tzu-Hsiang
In
opposition to Singapore, Hung Tzu-Hsiang had also suffered against Pang
Xue Jie (15-13, 11-7, 12-10); whilst in the third match of the duel Lai
Yi-Yao had beaten Tay Jit Kiat by the very narrowest of margins (11-9,
6-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-9) after Hung Tzu-Hsiang had defeated Clarence
Chew (11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 15-13).
Similarly, against Hong Kong ‘A’
in the semi-finals it was a tense affair, especially concerning for
Chinese Taipei after Hung Tzu-Hsiang had lost the opening match to Lin
Jingje (11-7, 11-6, 11-13, 8-11, 11-8) and the third match had seen Lai
Yi-Yao suffer against Daryl Hung (12-10, 11-9, 15-13).
Hung Tzu-Hsiang sparked the recovery against Hong Kong
Recovery
However,
Chinese Taipei recovered thanks the Hung Tzu-Hsiang overcoming Chiu
Chung Hei (11-4, 11-5, 11-5) leaving the stage set for Lee Chia-Sheng to
perform heroics against Lin Jingjie.
“Lee Chia-Sheng is playing
very well this week”, was the understatement made by Li Liyi, the
Chinese Taipei coach on duty. “I knew that we had a chance if we could
reach the fifth match because Lee Chia-Sheng is receiving better that
Hung Tzu-Hsiang.”
Rose to Occasion
A place in the final booked, Hung Tzu-Hsiang rose to the occasion and recovered from the very precipice of defeat.
He
opened proceedings by beating Asuka Sakai (11-8, 12-14, 11-8, 13-11)
but after Lee Chia-Sheng had lost to Yuto Muramatsu (14-12, 11-5, 11-6)
and Lai Yi-Yao had suffered against Yuto Higashi (11-8, 11-7, 11-4), the
momentum was firmly with Japan.
Match Points Saved
It
was even more firmly with Japan when in the decisive fifth game against
Hung Tzu-Hsiang, Yuto Muramatsu led 10-7, three match points.
Incredibly, Yuto Muramatsu, a defender, did not win another point.
Hung Tzu-Hsiang won five in a row to steal victory in the match and to set up victory for Chinese Taipei.
Save a Service
“Against
a defender I think it is very important to keep one your services to
the very last moment”, explained Li Liyi. “At 7-10, Hung Tzu-Hsiang won
the point and then with his two serves to come, won both points; I
though he played with great confidence.”
The stage was set for Lee Chia-Sheng but against Asuka Sakai he lost the first game 11-9.
Asuka Sakai won the first game against Lee Chia-Sheng but not the next three
Do Not Make Same Mistake
“Asuka
Sakai played very well at 9-all; at the end of that game I told Lee
Chia-Sheng not to worry about the loss but to focus on the next game”,
said Li Liyi who with the scores level at 9-all in the third game called
“Time Out”.
“It was important not to repeat the mistakes of the
first game”, explained Li Liyi. “I told Lee Chia-Sheng to attack more
and he did.”
He did, he won, it was Chinese Taipei gold.
Ready and Waiting
A
fine performance from Chinese Taipei but at the recent Asian Junior
Championships, Chinese Taipei failed to clinch one of the five places
available for the Boys’ Team event at the Volkswagen World Junior
Championships to held later this year in Bahrain.
They have only qualified for the individual event and are first reserves.
“We
will grab the opportunity to play if it arises”, said Li Liyi. “We are
eager to compete in Bahrain, at the Asian Championships India played
very well against us and I think that affected our performance against
Hong Kong which we lost; we want to play in Bahrain and show our
potential.”
Just One Fixture not Full Distance
Certainly,
the Boys’ Team event in Hong Kong was one of the closest on record;
only one fixture of the five second stage duels did not go the full five
match distance.
At the semi-final stage Japan ‘A’ (Yuto
Muramatsu, Asuka Sakai, Yuto Higashi) beat Japan ‘B’ (Tonin Ryuzaki,
Masahiro Otsuka, Ryotaro Ogata) by three matches to nil, having in the
quarter-finals beaten the very impressive Chinese outfit of Zhou Qihao,
Liang Jingkun and Zhang Cheng in a full distance contest.
Yuto Muramatsu
Man
of the moment for Japan in the win over China was Yuto Muramatsu; he
beat Liang Jingkun (9-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5) and Zhou Qihao (11-4,
11-8, 10-12, 11-13, 11-6).
The one remaining win for Japan came
from Asuka Sakai; in the vital last match of the duel, he beat Liang
Jingkun (8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-8).
Meanwhile, for China, Zhou
Qihao accounted for Asuka Sakai (11-4, 5-11, 13-15, 11-9, 11-7) and
Zhang Cheng overcame Yuto Higashi (10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4).
Yuto Muramatsu paved the way for a Japanese win over China
資料來源:ITTF
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