Status Prevails, Chuang Chih-Yuan Wins First Ever All Chinese Taipei Final
2016 ITTF Hungarian Open
Courtesy of ITTF

Favorite for gold, Chuang Chih-Yuan won the Men’s Singles title at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open in Budapest on the early evening of Sunday January 24th; thus he justified his top seeded position in the competition.

In all Chinese Taipei final, he beat Chen Chien-An, the no.12 seed in four straight games (11-6, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3) to secure the title and to maintain ascendancy over his compatriot on the international scene.

Third Meeting
The meeting in Budapest was their third in a World Ranking event; previously they had confronted each other in 2014 on the GAC Group ITTF World Tour in Qatar and at the Liebherr Men’s World Cup.

On both occasions Chuang Chih-Yuan had prevailed in six games; at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open, the result was more convincing. Perhaps there was a reason.

Possible Injury
“We know each other very well, we play a lot together, today was my match; his injury also made it easier for me”, said Chuang Chih-Yuan who was certainly in the best of health.

Furthermore, he had made a positive start in his bid to secure a 17th consecutive place in the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals to be staged at the end of the year. He made his debut in that competition in the Japanese city of Kobe in 2000.

“I feel like I’m in a great shape, it has been a successful competition”, added Chuang Chih-Yuan. “My next step is Germany, the aim is to stay confident and focused and try my best next week; I’m satisfied.”

Fourth Career Title
Success for Chuang Chih-Yuan meant that he collected the fourth ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles title of his career.

In 2003 he won in Rio de Janeiro at the Brazilian Open before waiting eight years, the longest gap on record between titles, to emerge successful once again. In 2011 he won in Santiago at the Chile Open, one year later he struck gold in Almeria at the Spanish Open.

One Ahead of Colleague
Notably, he is one of only two players from Chinese Taipei to win an ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles title and, by succeeding at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open; he is the most successful of all.

He is now one ahead of Chiang Peng-Lung ; a powerful right handed penholder, he won in 1999 in the Czech Republic, in 2000 in Toulouse and in 2001 in Japan.

Hungarian Open 2016 Highlights: CHUANG Chih-Yuan vs CHEN Chien-An (Final)