After all, table tennis is a source of national pride in China with some even jokingly calling it ‘China
ball.’ Hence, it was no surprising that their boys and girls teams giving a
thrashing to Japan at the ongoing Volkswagen 2012 World Junior Table
Tennis Championships here on Wednesday. The verdicts: boys won 3-1 and the
girls 3-0.
When Zhendong Fan began in a whirlwind fashion against
Masaki Yoshida to win 11-9, 11-5, 11-7, it looked as if the Chinese were going
through the motions. The impression got strengthened further when Gaoyuan Lin
accounted for Yuto Muramatsu in straight games of 11-3, 11-9, 11-4. But the
Chinese perhaps didn't reckon that Asuka Sakai could match their wits against
Chenhao Xu 6-11, 13-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9 to delay the inevitable. Then Zhendong
Fan took charge and countered the defensive Muramatsu well. Despite taking a
game off his Chinese rival, Muramatsu couldn't do much against a clever Fan,
who slowed down his game to give the Japanese a measure of his own medicine.
Gu Yuting and Zhu Yuling had been there and seen it before.
After all, they were part of the squad that lost to Japan in 2010 championships. That
loss at Bratislava —the
only time they lost—must have been still rankling in their minds when they took
on the Japanese in the final here.
There was a pattern to the Chinese win here. Yuling Zhu gave
a perfect start winning 3-0 against Mima Ito 3-0 before Yuting Gu, though a
little patchy, running over Ayuka Tanioka for a similar score line.
Incidentally, Tanoika too was part of the winning squad at Bratislava in the final two years
ago. But the spark was missing from the Japanese. Without prolonging their
agony, Ruochen Gu put the issue beyond Miyu Maeda to win 3-1.
It must be said to the credit of Ito, all of just 12, taking
on the experienced Zhu, particularly in the second game. The Japanese had
chances coming her way, but the 17-year-old Chinese was a hard nut to crack.
Her attacking strokes, both off back and forehands, were too scorching for Ito.
In comparison, Taioka was too defensive and it had paid
dividends in her earlier matches. But the clever Yuting was up to the task and
simply rolled over her opponent without giving any hint of being troubled
despite having been stretched by the Japanese teenager. In the third game,
Yuting marched ahead at 8-2 and accomplished the job very efficiently.
Unlike her teammates, Ruochen Gu is a first-timer at the
worlds and she had a match in Miyu Maeda it was her first Volkswagen World
Junior Championships final. No doubt, the southpaw from Japan took the first game,
attacking her way to penetrate into the loose defence of Gu. But the Chinese
was too quick to get into her rhythm to level and employing her topspin to great
effect decimated Maeda in the next three games for the set and the championship
title.
Earlier, Romanian boys outwitted South Korea 3-2 and USA
downed Croatia
3-1 to end their campaign here at fifth and sixth positions, respectively.
Among the girls, it was Chinese Taipei who finished fifth, beating Poland 3-1 and Germany
defeated Hong Kong 3-2 to end behind
them.
The Results:
Junior Boys (Final): China bt Japan 3-1 (Zhendong Fan bt
Masaki Yoshida 11-9, 11-5, 11-7, Gaoyuan Lin bt Yuto Muramatsu 11-3, 11-9,
11-4, Chenhao Xu lost to Asuka Sakai 11-6, 11-13, 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, Zhendong
Fan bt YutoMuramatsu 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6).
Positions 5-8: Romania
bt South Korea 3-2, USA bt Croatia 3-1.
Junior Girls (Final): China bt Japan 3-0 (Yuling Zhu bt Mima
Ito 11-6, 13-11, 11-3, Yuting Gu bt Ayuka 11-9, 11-8, 11-2, Ruochen Gu bt Miyu
Maeda 9-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4).
Positions 5-8: Chinese Taipei bt Poland
3-1, Germany bt Hong Kong 3-2.
A TTFI Press release
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