There were many expectations of the Olympic champion and host Zhang Jike at the recent Asia-Euro All Star Challenge 2013, however the first day of the tournament brought one of the biggest upsets as the leader of the Asia team succumb to a hard defeat against Vladimir Samsanov.
Zhang Jike - Photo by: sports.sina.com.cn
This match was by far one of the highlights of the All-star challenge, in an interview Jike revealed the reason for his loss “I believe I wasn’t at my peak physical fitness during the match and the lack of recent training also contributed to my loss”
Looking back at the match it was clear that Zhang Jike did have some opportunities; however he was unable to convert these into actual points as he lost 2-3 to the experienced player.
“Although I was leading in the third and fourth set I was unable to secure the final points” said Jike. Just last year in the 2012 Olympics the battle between these two players was seen as one of the highlights. This shows that Samsanov has always been a tough opponent for Jike.
“Samsanov is an outstanding player and the game should always be exciting, me and Samsonov have the same technical level and so it comes down to who is playing better to take the win. He represents the strength of the European players and his experience and understanding of the game and in tournaments puts pressure on us Chinese players, he isn’t far from Ovtcharov and Boll” Jike added.
Whilst Zhang Jike acknowleged Samsanov on his performance, the 36 year old European player also complimented Jike “If the seven set system was in place then I could have still lost to Zhang Jike just like in the London Olympics”.
This just proves that age does not automatically dictate the results, just like any sports anyone can be the rightful winner. In this case Jike and Samsanov have both proven that they’re fantastic players.
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Source: TableTennisTa
Written by: Emily Standing
TableTennisDaily
Zhang Jike - Photo by: sports.sina.com.cn
This match was by far one of the highlights of the All-star challenge, in an interview Jike revealed the reason for his loss “I believe I wasn’t at my peak physical fitness during the match and the lack of recent training also contributed to my loss”
Looking back at the match it was clear that Zhang Jike did have some opportunities; however he was unable to convert these into actual points as he lost 2-3 to the experienced player.
“Although I was leading in the third and fourth set I was unable to secure the final points” said Jike. Just last year in the 2012 Olympics the battle between these two players was seen as one of the highlights. This shows that Samsanov has always been a tough opponent for Jike.
“Samsanov is an outstanding player and the game should always be exciting, me and Samsonov have the same technical level and so it comes down to who is playing better to take the win. He represents the strength of the European players and his experience and understanding of the game and in tournaments puts pressure on us Chinese players, he isn’t far from Ovtcharov and Boll” Jike added.
Whilst Zhang Jike acknowleged Samsanov on his performance, the 36 year old European player also complimented Jike “If the seven set system was in place then I could have still lost to Zhang Jike just like in the London Olympics”.
This just proves that age does not automatically dictate the results, just like any sports anyone can be the rightful winner. In this case Jike and Samsanov have both proven that they’re fantastic players.
Like and tweet our articles to the World. Lets spread the word of Table Tennis.
Source: TableTennisTa
Written by: Emily Standing
TableTennisDaily
