China’s 18 year old Zhou Yu and 15 year old Gu Yuting won the respective Boys’ and Girls’ Singles titles at the M-Sport Asian Junior Championships, which concluded in Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok on Sunday 25th July 2010.

Once again Chinese excellence was underlined.

In Bangkok, only two of the ten titles on offer eluded China during the whole five days of action; those being the Cadet Boys’ Singles and Junior Boys’ Doubles titles. The former was won by Korea’s Jang Woo Jin, the latter by Koki Niwa and Asuka Machi in an all Japanese final, the only final in the whole competition that did not feature a Chinese player; Koki Niwa and Asuka Machi overcame Yuki Hirano and Masaki Yoshida to clinch gold.

Otherwise it was China on my mind; all four team events went their way as the did the Boys’ and Girls’ Singles titles with Liu Xi making it an exotic eight by securing top spot in the Cadet Girls’ Singles event and in the Girls’ Doubles competition.

Golden Road
En route to gold in the Boys’ Singles event, Zhou You ousted Korea’s Lee Seung Hyuk in his opening encounter in the main draw followed by victory over top seed, Japan’s Koki Niwa in the quarter-finals.

A notable scalp under his belt, he defeat colleague Lin Gaoyuan, the no.3 seed in the semi-finals and followed with victory over Wu Jiaji, the no.4 seed, also from China.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
Three of the four semi-finalists in the Boys’ Singles event were from China, the interloper was a complete shock; India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran was the man to cause the upset and threaten the might of China.

At the quarter-final stage he beat Yin Hang, the no.2 seed before Wu Jiaji ended any further aspirations in the penultimate round.

Similar Scenario
Similarly in the Girls’ Singles event, three of the four semi-finalists were from China; the one not from the table tennis superpower being Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching, the no.1 seed.

However, for Cheng I-Ching there was to be no further progress; she was beaten at the penultimate stage by Zhu Yulin, the winner in June of the Girls’ Singles title at the ITTF Junior Circuit tournament in Chengdu.

Gu Yuting
A place in the final in Bangkok for Zhu Yulin but it was not to be gold; she was dispatched in six games by Gu Yuting, the silver medallist in the Girls’ Singles event at the Volkswagen World Junior Championships in Colombia in December 2009.

On her way to the final, Gu Yuting had beaten Singapore’s Isabelle Li in the first round of the main draw followed by a quarter-final victory over Japan’s Misaki Morizono and a semi-final success in opposition to compatriot Zhao Yan.

All Chinese Affairs
Defeat for Zhao Yan but in the individual events there was to be gold; she partnered Yi Fangxian to success in the Girls’ Doubles event beating Gu Yuting and Zhu Yulin in an all Chinese final.

An all Chinese affair in both the junior events and it was the same in the Cadet Girls’ Singles competition where Liu Xi defeated Li Yanjin to secure the top step of the medal podium; the respective bronze medallists being Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem and Ng Ka Yee, the latter being the no.2 seed.

Different Story
However, in the Cadet Boys’ Singles event it was quite a different story; only one of the semi-finalists was from China, Zhu Linfeng.

The victor over Singapore’s Clarence Chew in the opening round, he recorded a quarter-final win over Chinese Taipei’s Lee Chia-Sheng before defeating fourth seeded Yuto Muramatsu of Japan in the semi-finals.

Jang Woo Jin
However, the top prize was to be denied; Jang Woo Jin succeeded in five games to don the mantle of Cadet Boys’ Singles champion and end the possibility of a Chinese clean sweep.

Jang Woo Jin had beaten Japan’s Asuka Sakai in the quarter-finals before defeating compatriot, Kim Min Hyuk at the penultimate stage, the latter, like Jang Woo Jin had been in splendid form. In the quarter-finals he had beaten top seed, China’s Xu Chenhao.

World Leaders
Cadet Boys’ Singles gold for Korea but at the end of the day one country stood supreme, China, unquestionably the world leaders in the sport of table tennis.

Source: www.ittf.com

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