March 4, 2001

Samsonov vs Hou Yingchao in International Challenge Match

On March 3, the fourth match in the International Challenge Series was played in Hami, a city in the remote province of Xinjiang in China. Samsonov faced the young Chinese chopper Hou Yingchao, an up-and-coming player who won the 2000 Finland Open. Samsonov lost the first, but took the next 3 games to score the first win for the international stars in this series.

In the preceding women's singles match, China's Zhang Yining beat Korean Ryu 2-1 in a tightly-fought contest. Zhang won the first game 21-9, but lost to Ryu in the second game 18-21. In the 3rd game, Zhang used her varied serves to beat Ryu 21-16. After the match, Ryu expressed her disappointment for not being able to sustain her attacks in the 3rd game.

The men's match followed. Although Hou and Samsonov never played each other, both players took the contest seriously. Hou had analysed Samsonov's style in detail, and studied the Ding Song/Samsonov tapes. Samsonov had arrived in Beijing the previous day, and immediately practiced against a chopper from the Beijing team the same afternoon. Both players wanted to win this match.

In the beginning, Hou was aggressively seeking the initiative, combining his attacks with his defensive chops, while Samsonov was trying to control Hou with steady looping. Samsonov apparently was not used to Hou's counter loops from mid-to-distant table. He was ahead 19-16, but Hou successfully attacked to take the first game 22-20. In the second game, Hou played with great spirits, and used his serves to attack. Samsonov was quickly behind 3-7, but then he changed his tactics to alternately loop long and short, and kept placing the ball at Hou's backhand. Hou started to make mistakes, and now Samsonov's all-round techniques and clear thinking came through. Samsonov won the second 21-12, and then quite easily took the next two at 15 and 11, to pick up the first victory for the international stars. China was ahead 3-0 in the series prior to this match.

Because of the Worlds, the series will resume June 2.

The city of Hami does not have a civilian airport. Since the players have a tight schedule, Xu Shaofa chartered an Air Force jet, piloted by a captain of the Chinese Air Force, to take the players from Beijing to Hami and back. The players were naturally very impressed with the VIP treatment. Samsonov travelled with his beautiful pregnant wife, and Ryu brought her coach along, too. The reporters were also treated to fly on the chartered plane with the players.

(Chung's notes: Hou, from Beijing, is a right-handed shakehand player, with inverted rubber on his forehand and pips-out on his backhand. He plays a style similar to Ding Song's: combining chopping with attacks. He was the 2000 national champion, although that competition was not attended by the Olympic team members. He won the 2000 Finland Open.)

Samsonov's Practices Before The Match

(Click here for photos of Samsonov practicing in Beijing on the day of his arrival.)

After a long flight of over 20 hours and only 2 hours of rest, Samsonov showed up at the Beijing team's practice halls to train for the match the next day against Hou Yingchao. To help Samsonov become familiar with the chopping style, a young team member from Beijing was picked as Samsonov's practice partner. The lucky player was Wang Peng, a 16-year-old boy who plays the style of Ding Song: chopping with attacks. He used the Hurricane III rubber on his forehand, and Butterfly rubber on his backhand. He has been playing for 10 years. Samsonov, an excellent looper, used a Tibhar blade, with Tibhar rubber on his forehand. He is 25 years old, and has been playing for 19 years.

The training session proceeded as usual: forehand and backhand close-to-table blocking and countering, mid-to-distant table looping, and looping against chops. Samsonov's shirt was now covered in sweat, and he was increasing the power of his shots. Wang had to moving around much more now.

The head-coach of the Beijing team was walking deliberately around the table, and giving Wang tips now and then. The other teammates were all focusing on their own training, but there was a feeling of anticipation in the hall.

Samsonov stopped his practices, and through the translator, asked to have a best-of-3 11-point game match with Wang. Wang nodded his understanding and served. After the first 4 points were played, the coach now suddenly realized the match had begun. All the training activities now came to a complete halt, and the players all gathered around Samsonov's table.

Wang appeared to be affected by the attention. He quickly fell behind 1-5 and 2-8. He did not attempt any attacks in the first 10 points. Then he served again, and he seemed to have pick up his confidence and started to attack, winning 4 points in a row. But then the difference in levels showed, and Samsonov won the first game 11-6.

Samsonov had service to start the 2nd game, and a wicked forehand shot down the line almost tripped up Wang. Perhaps because of this, Wang realized that his world-class opponent was playing for real. Now Wang started to play better, made some pretty shots, and took a 5-1 lead. But now Samsonov was familiar with Wang's tendencies, and was able to place the ball to Wang's forehand when Wang was moving to his backhand side. Quickly Samsonov won the next 7 points. There was no more surprises, and Samsonov won the second game 11-7.

A regular sports school student shook hands with a world-class player. He lost the match, but he probably had won a lot more.

Liu Guoliang: "Not Retiring Yet!"

The bigger ball has been bothersome to Liu Guoliang. Some people said that the pips-out penholder style, with Liu as its major proponent, is at its end. There have been media reports that Liu will retire soon. Last night, Liu told reporters that he does not want to retire yet, and he really wants to play in the 2004 Olympics.

Liu said: "I have not been playing well, and have not trained systematically. I have a lot of losses recently, but I believe the upcoming closed training will definitely turn things around". Is the bgger ball a fatal change for Liu? "Kong and I both have the same problem. We play a highly technical style, and the big ball seems to favor the power type of players like Ma, Liu Guozheng and Wang, so they have been more successful. I still have not found the proper contact point for the big ball, and have not mastered its behavior. The bigger ball is defintely more difficult for me. But I think that ability is important. If I could find the principles of the big ball, I can definitely still be a world champion," Liu said. Would Liu retire if he could not do well in the Worlds? "I have not considered retirement yet. I will definitely keep playing. Other than table-tennis, I am not good at anything. I hope I can continue playing until the 2004 Olympics. I will not step back from the challenge. The Worlds will be a very good oportunity for me to get used to the big ball, and I will do my best. This is important for my confidence," Liu said.

"Of course, an athlete will eventually retire. I am working with a manufacturer to promote the "Liu Guoliang" brand of athletic shoes. I also want to appear in ads to raise money for our company. I have not thought about going to school after retirement; I do not think that I could adjust well to the campus life. Anyway, I will try to do well in the Worlds, and see if I can adjust to the big ball. Everything else will have to wait," Liu said.

Kim Taek Soo's Weapon

This article and the following three appear in the www.fishtt.com BBS. I reproduced the photos here, since the original site appears to be very slow. Thanks to www.fishtt.com and friend Avalox. The photos originally appeared on the Japanese Table Tennis Empire Magazine.

Kim's racket: Butterfly Kim Taek Soo, 10 mm thick, Japanese penholder style.

Forehand rubber: Butterfly Sriver (red) with 2.1 mm sponge.