At last something went right for Hungary’s 18 year old Daniel Kosiba. In December 2009 at the Volkswagen World Junior Championships, he experienced racket problems and departed in the group stage without a win; he used the second racket of Dora Madarasz for the Mixed Doubles event and in partnership they clinched the silver medal.

Two months later on Thursday 18th January 2010 in the Men's Singlesqualification stage he reported to the wrong table; his potential adversary, Singapore’s Yang Zi, received a walk-over.

Mistake
“Yes, that was a big mistake this morning”, Daniel Kosiba reflected. “I wasn’t the only one, it happened to Roko Tosic and Andrei Filimon as well!”

At least he is wiser for the experience; I’m sure it won’t happen again.

Smiles
However, when play finished on the second day of action in the Qatar Sports Club, Daniel Kosiba was smiling.

He recovered from a three games to one deficit to beat Russia’s Taras Merzlikin by the narrowest of margins in the seventh game in their first round Under 21 Men’s Singles encounter.

Fighting Spirit
“I didn’t play so well, I just fought”, said Daniel Kosiba unable to hide a smile of satisfaction.

“In the first game I had a good feeling for the ball, I won that game and led 6-2 in the second but then Taras started to play really well”, continued the Hungarian teenager. “He got into a very good rhythm and when a Russian player does that you are in trouble.”

Russian Power
Daniel Kosiba was referring to the fact that traditional Russian male attacking player executes long strong strokes, as opposed to the shorter strokes of Asian players; when able to execute these strokes from half distance or close to the table they can overpower adversaries.

Taras Merzlikin had increased the tempo of the play and he was overpowering Daniel Kosiba.

Changed Tactics
“After losing the fourth game, I tried to stay close to the table”, added Daniel Kosiba. “I changed my tactics, changed my receive and tried to use the angles more, whilst also playing with more topspin.”

Advisor
The change of tactics worked and Daniel Kosiba was very grateful for the advice given by his coach; the advisor in question was Janos Jakab.

So move over Peter Teglas and Zsolt Harci, the Hungarian national coaches; go back to playing and make space for Janos Jakab.

“Don’t say that”, interjected Janos Jakab. “No, no!”

Ok, I’ll keep quiet.

Problems for Third Seed
Success for Daniel Kosiba and there was also for the top two seeds, England’s Paul Drinkhall and Korea’s Seo Hyun Deok.

However, there were problems for Singapore’s Ma Liang, the no.3 seed, he was beaten in six games by Egypt’s high energy Omar Assar.

Intentions Clear
Defeat for Ma Liang but no great troubles for the no.4 seed, Seo Hyun Deok’s colleague, the athletic Lee Sang Su.

Winner of the Men’s Singles title at the Slovenian Open in January, he made his intentions clear in the Under 21 Men’s Singles competition in Qatar.

In the opening round he ousted Japan’s impressive Masaki Yoshida; victory was recorded in five games.

Source: www.ittf.com

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