qatar open table tennis

WANG Liqin and GUO Yue won the respective Men’s and Women’s Singles titles at the Qatar Open in Doha on Sunday 21st February 2010 and in so doing completed the perfect day for China.
Earlier in the proceedings, DING Ning and LIU Shiwen had captured the Women’s Doubles crown beating Korea’s KIM Kyung Ah and Park Mi Young to clinch gold; whilst in an all Chinese final, MA Lin and WANG Hao had overcome WANG Liqin and XU Xin to secure the top prize in the Men’s Doubles event.
It was the third time that WANG Liqin, seeded no.4, had won the Men’s Singles crown at the Qatar Open, previously he had won in 2005 and 2006.
Furthermore it ended a barren spell on the ITTF Pro Tour. The victory in Qatar was his first Men’s Singles crown on the ITTF Pro Tour since winning in Japan in 2006.
At the penultimate stage he beat MA Long, the no.1 seed, before overcoming a second national team compatriot, ZHANG Jike, seeded no.7, in the final.
Meanwhile, for GUO Yue, seeded no.2, it was the first time she had ever won the Women’s Singles title at the Qatar Open.
In similar vein to WANG Liqin she beat Chinese national team colleagues in the final two rounds.
She defeated GUO Yan, seeded no.3 is the semi-finals and LIU Shiwen, the top seed, in the final.
Men’s Singles
Semi-Finals
WANG Liqin (CHN) bt MA Long (CHN) 11-5, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9
ZHANG Jike (CHN) bt LEE Jung Woo (KOR) 11-5, 11-7, 11-3, 11-8
Final
WANG Liqin (CHN) bt Zhang Jike (CHN) 11-5, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9