Defending champion Wang Hao will meet his long-time foe Olympic gold medallist Ryu Seung Min in the first round of the 2007 ITTF Pro-Tour Grand Finals on Friday.
China's world number one Wang Hao celebrates a point won over South Korea's Ryu Seung Min during their final game of the 2007 men's World Cup in Barcelona, Spain October 14, 2007. Wang won with straight sets 4-0. [Xinhua] |
The season ending world table tennis event will also see three matches where Singaporeans, Germans and Chinese will face off against their own countries at the Beijing University Gymnasium, the newly-completed court specially designed for table tennis competitions in next year’s Olympics.
China’s Wang, second seeded, is drawn to square off against Ryu in the men’s singles and doubles. It is the 16th time they will meet at international tournaments, with the South Korean winning once - the men’s title of the 2004 Athens Games.
In October, the 24-year-old Wang came back to beat Ryu to win the Barcelona World Cup champion. It is the first major title of the Chinese paddler’s career.
Three matches featuring Chinese, Germans and Singporeans playing against themselves will share the spotlight in the first round.
For the Chinese, top seed Wang Liqin meets Hao Shuai in the lower half of the draw, while Germans, Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov clash in the top half, as do Singaporeans Gao Ning and Yang Zi.
In the men’s doubles, China defends its title as Wang Liqin and Chen Qi will meet top seeds Gao Ning and Yang Zi from Singapore.
In women’s singles, China’s world top seed Guo Yue and Japan’s No.1 Sayaka Hirano are the ones to watch at this tournament. Another match that fans are excited about is between the mainland’s No.1 women’s singles player Zhang Yining and Hongkong’s top player Tie Yana.
The 2007 ITTF Volkswagen Pro-Tour Grand Finals will have more weight in the new world rankings to be released early next year by International Table Tennis Federation. The world’s top 20 players in the January rankings will be given automatic berths in the Beijing Olympics on condition they will finish the top two in their countries.
In addition, the finals are part of the “Good-luck Beijing” test events taking place this year at the various venues where next year's Beijing Olympic Games will be held.
The Beijing University Gymnasium is the world’s first dedicated to table tennis events in Olympics.
