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Spain’s Shen Yanfei caused one of the biggest upsets of the year and one of the biggest upsets in the 15 year history of the ITTF Pro Tour by winning the Women’s Singles title at the KRA Korean Open in Incheon on Sunday 15th August 2010.
Currently standing at no.56 on the ITTF Women’s World Ranking list, not seeded, being required to compete in the qualification stage of the Women’s Singles event, the left handed Shen Yanfei, exceeded all expectations as one after another higher ranked players were put to the sword.
At the final hurdle she beat Singapore’s Feng Tianwei, the no.1 seed and currently listed at no.2 on the ITTF Women’s World Rankings, in a gripping seven games encounter.
Tense Duel
She won 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-4, 9-11, 12-10, 14-12 and in so doing became the second player in 2010 to progress through the qualification stage and emerge as a singles champion.
In January in Slovenia, that feat was achieved by Korea’s Lee Sang Su in the Men’s Singles even.
Previous Meetings
Not only was the verdict a shock result in terms of ranking and seeding, it was a shock result when history is taken into consideration.
The pair had met on two previous occasions in world ranking events and on both occasions, Feng Tianwei had emerged the victor; furthermore, she had emerged the victor in a most comfortable manner.
In June 2008 she had recorded a five games victory in the third round of the Women’s Singles event at the Singapore Open whilst earlier this year in Moscow in May at the Liebherr World Team Championships, Feng Tianwei had won in straight games when the duo faced each other in the first stage of the women’s event.
First Women’s Singles Gold
Three months later in Incheon it was a reversal of fortunes.
It was for Shen Yanfei her first ever Women’s Singles title on the ITTF Pro Tour; alongside Gao Jun of the United States she had enjoyed Women’s Doubles success but never Women’s Singles success; the nearest being runners up spot at the Chinese Taipei Open in 2006 when beaten by Hong Kong’s Tie Yana.
Four years later, it was the top prize, the Women’s Singles title and a landmark in the career of Shen Yanfei.
Source: www.ittf.com
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