Qualified for Finals at Start of Millennium, Intentions Clear for New Year
2016 ITTF Hungarian Open
Courtesy of ITTF
“Chuang Chih-Yuan will seize the prey”
Present in Kobe in 2000 and present ever since; the quest is now to make the tally an unprecedented 17 in a row.
Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan made his debut in the Men’s Singles event at ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Kobe as the Millennium dawned; it would seem that he has every intention of maintaining that unbroken run.
He is the top seed at the forthcoming 2016 Hungarian Open; proceedings commence in Budapest on Wednesday January 20th.
Not Matched
It is an achievement that no other player can match, even Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, who was present at the first ever ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Tianjin in 1996, cannot compare.
The most successful male player in the history of the ITTF World Tour with 26 Men’s Singles titles and one more at the Grand Finals; when Vladimir Samsonov competed in Lisbon last December, he was on duty at the prestigious end of year event for the 14th time.
Fortitude
A quite incredible record, it pays tribute to the dedication and fortitude of the now 35 year old. Seemingly he lays defeat to rest and returns invigorated; a fact that is evident in the past six months.
After a series of disappointing performances on the ITTF World Tour, he fell to no.15 on the Men’s World Ranking list last August, by the time the year ended he was at no.7, a position he still holds.
The Terrier
Durability is the hallmark of Chuang Chih-Yuan, he suffers defeats but also he causes surprises; the reason is not necessarily that he produces a performance of a ridiculous extreme but more he is like a terrier biting at the heels his opponent.
If that opponent is of a higher stature and not approaching his best, Chuang Chih-Yuan will seize the prey.
Notably, in 2002 he won the Men’s Singles title at the Grand Finals, having never previously won on the Tour; at the Liebherr 2013 World Championships he won the Men’s Doubles event in harness with Chen Chien-An. There is no room for a concentration lapse against Chuang Chih-Yuan.
Men’s Doubles
Surprisingly, in 16 years of trying, he has never won an ITTF World Tour Men’s Doubles title; however could that be about to change?
Alongside Huang Sheng-Sheng, he is the no.2 seed in Belgrade; Korea’s Kim Minseok and Lim Jonghoon being the top seeds.
Chinese Taipei colleagues, Chen Chien-An and Chiang Hung-Chieh occupy the third seeded spot with Russia’s Alexey Liventsov and Mikhail Paikov being the fourth seeds.
Almeria 2012
A resurgence at the end of last year as he climbed the Men’s World Rankings but it now some time since he secured an ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles crown; the most recent occasion was April 2012 when he beat Korea’s Lee Jungwoo to strike gold in Almeria on Spain’s southern coast.
It was the third of his career, earlier he had won in Brazil in 2003 and in Chile in 2011.
Longevity
Longevity of that there is no doubt but in Budapest at the 2016 Hungarian Open, in that respect there is one player’s name that appears on the entry list to whom even Chuang Chih-Yuan must give second best, a player who is not seeded.
Now 46 years old, Croatia’s Zoran Primorac who was present on the very first year of the ITTF World Tour when he competed in Italy and Sweden, is bound for Budapest and of all the players required to compete in the qualification stage of the Men’s Singles event, he must be the most prestigious name.
Six ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles Titles
Twice winner of the Men’s World Cup, he has six ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles titles to his credit. He won in Qatar in 1998, 1999 and 2001; earlier in 1997 he succeeded in China and Austria, also in 1999 in Brazil.
The record exceeds the top seeded names by some distance with Qatar’s Li Ping, Korea’s Kim Donghyun and Hong Kong’s Jiang Tianyi being players named in the top eight, who in addition to Chuang Chih-Yuan, have secured ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles titles.
Li Ping, the no.2 seed and Kim Donghyun, the no.5 seed, each have one success to their credit, both in 2015; Li Ping won in Belarus, Kim Donghyun in Bulgaria.
Meanwhile, for Jiang Tianyi, the no.6 seed, the defending champion, the record is two; additional to his success one year ago, he prevailed in Brazil in 2008.
Yet to Graduate
Simon Gauzy of France, the no.3 seed, Korea’s Kim Minseok, the no.4 seed, although enjoying success in Under 21 Men’s Singles events, have yet to make the next step.
Similarly, despite impressive performances, Sweden’s Mattias Karlsson and Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna, the players who complete the top eight names, have yet to make the breakthrough.
However, further down the list, alongside Zoran Primorac, there are players on duty in Belgrade who have enjoyed ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles triumphs.
Secured Titles
Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit won in the Philippines in 2014, Canada’s Eugene Wang succeeded in the United States in 2013; the same year as Brazil’s Cazuo Matsumoto prevailed in Spain.
All are on the Belgrade entry list, as is Serbia’s Zsolt Peto as well as brothers Noshad Alamiyan and Nima Alamian. Zsolt Peto won in Belarus in 2009, Noshad Alamiyan in Morocco in 2012, and Nima Alamian last year in Belgium.
Defends Title
Gold for Ho Kwan Kit in 2014, there was also gold one year ago in Belgrade; he won the Under 21 Men’s Singles event; one year later he defends the crown.
Poland’s Janos Jakab is the no.2 seed followed by Kim Minseok and Denmark’s Zhai Yujia, the runner up at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals.
Visit ITTF.com for full coverage of the 2016 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open.
