Matters went exactly according to plan at the quarter-final stage of the Men’s Singles event at the KRA Korean Open in Incheon on Saturday 14th August 2010.

History was repeated and seeding was endorsed. The top four seeds entered the arena, the top four seeds departed as winners and none had to suffer the indignity of a seventh deciding game.

Germany’s Timo Boll and Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, the respective top two seeded players plus the Koreans, the no.3 and no.4 seeds, Joo Se Hyuk and Oh Sang Eun emerged victorious.

Tough Test
Timo Boll accounted for Hong Kong’s Jiang Tianyi in what was their fourth career meeting in world ranking events; in the past Jiang Tianyi, like Timo Boll left handed, has caused the German problems.

The Hong Kong man has suffered defeat on each of the three previous meetings but always he has secured at least one game. In 2006 he was beaten in five games at the Liebherr German Open; whilst in 2008 he lost in seven games at the Volkswagen Open Korea and in six games at the Polish Open.

Once again in Incheon it was a six games verdict.

Examined by Compatriot
Similarly, Oh Sang Eun was tested by his compatriot and qualifier Jung Young Sik.

The latter with nothing to lose, gave his all to extend the calm Oh Sang Eun to six games as he had done one year earlier at the KAL Korean Open, their one and only previous meeting in a world ranking event.

More Comfortable
Two hard fought wins whilst for Vladimir Samsonov and Joo Se Hyuk, life was somewhat more comfortable.

Vladimir Samsonov beat Gao Ning, the no.8 seed, in five games and maintained his unblemished record against the Singaporean.

All previous encounters in world ranking events had seen Vladimir Samsonov succeed; he won in 2007 at the Liebherr World Championships, in 2009 at the Liebherr German Open and earlier this year in the Liebherr World Team Championships in Moscow.

In Incheon he won again.

Style Wins
Success for Vladimir Samsonov and also there was success for Joo Se Hyuk, he beat Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan, a player with speed who excels against attackers but by his own admission when the adversary is a defender then it’s not his cup of tea.

Joo Se Hyuk won in straight games to secure his seventh victory in eight meetings in world ranking events against Chuang Chih-Yuan and it is a long time since that one win occurred.

Almost a decade has passed; In November 2000, Chuang Chih-Yuan won when the pair met at the Swedish Open; in Korea in 2010, that success was not to be repeated.

Source: www.ittf.com

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