India’s Manav Thakkar got off to a fast start against a second-tier Chinese player in the opening round of the WTT Star Contender in Doha this week, but from that 0-2 position, Zhou Qihao flipped a switch. Thakkar not only won the first two matches, he also won 11-8 and 11-5 before Qihao found his feet and won the next three. The world number 36 then took on Liang Jingkun (world number 7) and it was Qihao who won 3-2. The next two opponents were Hiroto Shinozuka (a 3-1 win for Qihao) and Huang Youzheng (a 3-1 quarterfinal win for Qihao). This allowed Qihao to reach the semi-finals, where he stopped a strong run by Dimirij Ovtcharov (3-2 against Qihao). And in the Final, Zhou Qihao beat Wen Ruibo 4-2.
Early in his career, Zhou Qihao showed great promise. He won international U21 events and at one point defeated Ma Long in the Marvelous 12 trials (where he achieved real fame in a televised match in China that focused on the defending Olympic and world champions as he prepared for the Olympics – only to fall 4-3 to Qihao). But the path was never cleared for Qihao, and he could never pass Ma Long, Fan Zhendong or Xu Xin before younger players passed him. He is still a successful club player with team titles in the Chinese Super League. Today’s win earns Qihao 600 ranking points, moving him into the Top 25 in the world. At 29 years old, this could be one of his last chances to make a major impact on the tour.
Qihao was the biggest story in Doha this week, but he was certainly not the only story. Dimitrij Ovtcharov is one of the best-known names in the sport, and a week after beating world number 3 Hugo Calderano in another event, he suffered another major setback. This week his big win was a 3-1 victory over world number 2 Lin Shidong. And he continued that momentum into the quarterfinals with a hard-fought victory over Jang Woojin (the winner of last week’s event). Ovtcharov lost in the semifinals today, but he led 2-1 for a while before losing 2-3 to Qihao.
The Chinese contingent had mixed results in Doha. Despite Chuqin’s absence, three of China’s top four team members were present, and all three lost early in upsets. Lin Shidong fell to Ovtcharov in the Round of 16, Liang Jingkun in the Round of 32 (to eventual winner Zhou Qihao), and Xiang Peng fell to Simon Gauzy in the Round of 16. It was that next level of Chinese players that filled the void. Huang Youzheng (20 years old and world number 56) defeated Apolonia, Togami and Kuo before falling to Zhou Qihao in the quarterfinals. Cheng Junsong (20 years old and world number 43) defeated promising European junior Flavien Coton 3-0 before suffering a narrow 3-2 defeat to world number 17 Anders Lind. Xue Fei (world No. 72 – and a ‘generation’ older at 26), knocked out Chen Yuanyu and Tomokazu Harimoto before falling to Ruibo in the quarter-finals.
And then there is 19-year-old Wen Ruibo (number 53 in the world), who made almost all the headlines with his performance in the final. Ruibo came from behind to beat Alvaro Robles 3-2 in the opening round. He then went on a tear, including a 3-0 win over Lin Yun Ju (world number 9) and a 3-1 win over Anders Lind (world number 17) in the round of 16. That was already a great result for such a young player – and he went on to beat Xue Fei in a battle between two unlikely Chinese qualifiers. That took him to the semi-finals against Hugo Calderano – and in what was probably the best match of the entire tournament (SEE BELOW), Ruibo and Calderano traded punches until the fifth game. The action picks up late in the fifth and final game: Calderano wins a 15-shot rally to close the lead to 9-7, Calderano wins both his serves with strong set-ups and backhand winners to tie the score at 9-9, Ruibo’s backhand midway through the rally clips the net and Calderano mishits the return, and then Ruibo safely plays a strong topspin against Calderano’s backhand and Calderano goes for a down-the-line winner who hits the net and stays afloat for a long time. The victory goes to Ruibo by the narrowest of margins.
Later on Sunday, Ruibo tried to keep his Cinderella story going, but it wasn’t to be. He won the opening match 11-8, but then lost the next three. From then on, Zhou Qihao played cautiously in the lead and they traded the last two games. Qihao wins 4-2. For the inconsistent Qihao, it is a reminder to the world that he can beat anyone on any given day. For Wen Ruibo, it’s a sign to the world that China has a class of 19- and 20-year-olds rising rapidly through the ranks – and he plans to be at the front of that red wave.
The next tour stop is in Muscat, Oman – and the action starts on Monday. Lin Shidong, Liang Jingkun and Xiang Peng are the top three seeds. Duda, Jorgic and Franziska are the next three seeds. And Wen Ruibo is also registered.
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