By Shane Clark
Today on the 15th February the popular Kuwait Open 2015 - ITTF World Tour drew to a close with one thing being certain, china were going to win. With the top 4 Chinese players all making the semi-finals, they eliminated the chance of any European names stepping on the podium. Portugal’s Marcos Freitas made it to the quarters respectively, where he was just short of reaching the semi’s losing out to Zhang Jike 11-4 in the seventh set. The finals saw the world no 1 Xu Xin face the no 2 Ma Long. Despite Xu Xin being the higher ranked, either could have won as both players carried such good form with them throughout the tournament.
Full results plus videos below.
Ma Long in action during the men's singles final!
The first set saw a 10-8 lead to Xu Xin, but with 2 tactical serve and return points Ma long managed to pull back 2 game points. Forcing Xu Xin back from the table we witnessed a long rally at 10-10 that had Xu Xin on the back foot. Ma long took this point and saw his momentum through to take an important first set 14-12.
To everyone’s surprise, Xu Xin bounced straight back and took a convincing 10-2 lead. Only needing his second game point to take the second set 11-3, the match has once again drawn level, making it anyone’s game.
The mighty Ma Long was not to be fazed, he followed suit and soon rushed into a strong lead taking the 3rd 11-1. Throughout this set he made no mistakes reminding his usual team mate that there’s no room for error.
After such a quick 3rd set loss Xu Xin looked as though he was very uncomfortable. He continued to make various unforced errors, glancing at his bat at times as though he had no explanation for his lack of consistency. Ma Long soon took advantage and had a 10-4 lead. His opponent managed to claw 3 points back however he stood firm and the 4th game soon was to his name.
Ma long never looked in doubt in the 6th game, with an 8-6 lead and a serve pushed into the net by Xu Xin, Ma Long certainly looked in control. Now 9-7 Xu Xin took a timeout to calm himself, trying his best to stop Ma Long taking the title from his fingertips. Now back at the table, Xu Xin serves and goes for his trademark big forehand. However Ma Long calmly blocks it back off the bounce and it’s just too quick for the left handed pen holder to return.
The match score now reads 3-1 in games, 10-8 in points to Ma Long. Xu Xin would need a miracle to break his opponents’ rhythm and turn to the tables. It was not to be as Ma Long placed a slow heavy forehand topspin on the table that drifted long by Xu Xin. The World no 2 defied the rankings with an exceptional performance to beat Xu Xin and be crowned the 2015 Kuwait Open champion.
The final looked a lot more tactical compared to the semi of ma long and Fan Zhendong which was a lot more open around the table, allowing bigger rallies to take place. With this World tour open being such a high profile event that no-one has ever reclaimed their title, could it have played effect with the players tactics for the game?
Men's Singles Final: Ma Long vs Xu Xin!
Women's Singles Final: Ding Ning vs Liu Xiaoxia!
Point of the tournament!
A successful tournament none the less for Ma Long as he not only claims the title, he also took revenge on the young Fan Zhendong who he previously lost to in the Chinese trials.
For China overall an even better result as China look stronger than ever in the preparation for the 2015 world championships to be held on their home turf in May. With the newly crowned European champion Dimitrij Ovtcharov not being present; could he have stopped the Chinese?
Congratulations to Ma Long and Li Xiaoxia winning this year's kuwait Open ITTF World Tour! For all the latest news, results and videos from the Kuwait Open click here. To catch up on all the latest highlighted matches from the Kuwait Open visit our Media Library.
Like and tweet our articles to the World. Lets spread the word of Table Tennis.
Photo by: ITTF
Written by Shane Clark
Twitter @Justshaneee
TableTennisDaily
Today on the 15th February the popular Kuwait Open 2015 - ITTF World Tour drew to a close with one thing being certain, china were going to win. With the top 4 Chinese players all making the semi-finals, they eliminated the chance of any European names stepping on the podium. Portugal’s Marcos Freitas made it to the quarters respectively, where he was just short of reaching the semi’s losing out to Zhang Jike 11-4 in the seventh set. The finals saw the world no 1 Xu Xin face the no 2 Ma Long. Despite Xu Xin being the higher ranked, either could have won as both players carried such good form with them throughout the tournament.
Full results plus videos below.
Ma Long in action during the men's singles final!
The first set saw a 10-8 lead to Xu Xin, but with 2 tactical serve and return points Ma long managed to pull back 2 game points. Forcing Xu Xin back from the table we witnessed a long rally at 10-10 that had Xu Xin on the back foot. Ma long took this point and saw his momentum through to take an important first set 14-12.
To everyone’s surprise, Xu Xin bounced straight back and took a convincing 10-2 lead. Only needing his second game point to take the second set 11-3, the match has once again drawn level, making it anyone’s game.
The mighty Ma Long was not to be fazed, he followed suit and soon rushed into a strong lead taking the 3rd 11-1. Throughout this set he made no mistakes reminding his usual team mate that there’s no room for error.
After such a quick 3rd set loss Xu Xin looked as though he was very uncomfortable. He continued to make various unforced errors, glancing at his bat at times as though he had no explanation for his lack of consistency. Ma Long soon took advantage and had a 10-4 lead. His opponent managed to claw 3 points back however he stood firm and the 4th game soon was to his name.
Ma long never looked in doubt in the 6th game, with an 8-6 lead and a serve pushed into the net by Xu Xin, Ma Long certainly looked in control. Now 9-7 Xu Xin took a timeout to calm himself, trying his best to stop Ma Long taking the title from his fingertips. Now back at the table, Xu Xin serves and goes for his trademark big forehand. However Ma Long calmly blocks it back off the bounce and it’s just too quick for the left handed pen holder to return.
The match score now reads 3-1 in games, 10-8 in points to Ma Long. Xu Xin would need a miracle to break his opponents’ rhythm and turn to the tables. It was not to be as Ma Long placed a slow heavy forehand topspin on the table that drifted long by Xu Xin. The World no 2 defied the rankings with an exceptional performance to beat Xu Xin and be crowned the 2015 Kuwait Open champion.
The final looked a lot more tactical compared to the semi of ma long and Fan Zhendong which was a lot more open around the table, allowing bigger rallies to take place. With this World tour open being such a high profile event that no-one has ever reclaimed their title, could it have played effect with the players tactics for the game?
Men's Singles Final: Ma Long vs Xu Xin!
Women's Singles Final: Ding Ning vs Liu Xiaoxia!
Point of the tournament!
A successful tournament none the less for Ma Long as he not only claims the title, he also took revenge on the young Fan Zhendong who he previously lost to in the Chinese trials.
For China overall an even better result as China look stronger than ever in the preparation for the 2015 world championships to be held on their home turf in May. With the newly crowned European champion Dimitrij Ovtcharov not being present; could he have stopped the Chinese?
Congratulations to Ma Long and Li Xiaoxia winning this year's kuwait Open ITTF World Tour! For all the latest news, results and videos from the Kuwait Open click here. To catch up on all the latest highlighted matches from the Kuwait Open visit our Media Library.
Like and tweet our articles to the World. Lets spread the word of Table Tennis.
Photo by: ITTF
Written by Shane Clark
Twitter @Justshaneee
TableTennisDaily
