(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
A week ago, Wen Ruibo fell just short – an amazing run all the way to the Final, where he lost to Qihao. This week, Ruibo took an additional step forward – a dominating performance through four matches and an epic Finals win.
Like last week, all three of the top Chinese team members fell early. Lin Shidong won a tight 3-2 match against Vladimir Siddorenko before falling 1-3 to Darko Joric in the Quarters. Liang Jingkun hardly got started, losing 0-3 in the first round to Huang Youzheng. And Ziang Peng fell to Anton Kallberg in the second round. Even with the top seeds gone, China had two players that reached the Semifinals – 20 year old Chen Yuanyu took out Kallberg to face Franziska in one Semifinal , and 19 year old Ruibo took out Duda and Junsong on his way to face Jorgic in the other Semifinal.
Patrick Franziska topped Chen Yuanyu 3-1, winning the first game, dropping the second, and then closing out the match easily. The script was reversed in the other half of the draw with the Chinese player, winning the first, dropping the second, and then dominating – this time Ruibo easily topping Jorgic.
For Ruibo, he was 12-1 on his way to the Final – including two wins over top European players. Ruibo seemed to be on a roll, winning the first three games against Patrick Franziska in the Final. But, down 0-3, Franziska found a new gear and ran off three wins of his own. And from this 3-3 position, the two played an epic final game with Ruibo finally winning 14-12.
China always seems to be reloading. Ruibo seems larger than most of the current team members and he’s fearless – pounding balls on both sides. At 19 years old, and now firmly in the World Top 25 – it looks like he is quickly heading up the rankings to be one of China’s Top 4.
The next major stop on the tour is the Singapore Smash – scheduled for February 19 – March 1. That is an event that should see the return of Wang Chuqin, along with nearly ever top player including USA’s Kanak Jha (Word No. 21).
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