DUBAI, Jan. 9 -- The first round of the 32 best players of the GAC Group 2013 WorldTour Grand Final of the International Table tennis Federation (ITTF) here on Thursdaysaw all Chinese players from the women's and men's tournament winning all their matchesand heading to the quarter finals on Friday.
The women's world's number one from China Liu Shiwen, winner of the women's world cupin 2009, 2012 and 2012, left Romania's Elizabeth Samara no chance and defeated her 4-1at the Rashid Bin Hamdan hall of Dubai's Al Nasr Sports Club.
Left-handed Ding Ning from China, silver medallist at the Olympics in London 2012 andcurrently the world's number two, won in four straight sets over Jiang Huajun from HongKong, China. Ding said that the match was not easy for her but "so and so". Surrounded bycrowds of fans, Ding patiently gave autographs and shared a chat with the fans attendingthe GAC tournament.
London Olympic gold medallist Li Xiaoxia from China defeated Lee Ho Ching of Hong Kong4-2. The other Chinese female players who made it to the quarter finals on Friday wereZhu Yuling, who beat Russia's Maria Bykova 4-0 and Zhao Yan, who won 4-3 against SeoHyowon from South Korea.
A fierce battle in a long lasting neck and neck took place between Russia's Maria Dolgikhand Singapore's Feng Tianwei, in which Singaporean won 4-3.
In extra game to honor the host country United Arab Emirates, Majd Alblooshi lost 4-0 toRussia's Maria Bykova. Alblooshi admitted that she felt the lack of training because she justfinished her exam in architecture.
In the men's round of the best 16 players, the world's number one Ma Long from Chinawas victorious in 4-1 against Japan's Chan Kazuhiro. Zhang Jike, the only reigning men'ssingles world champion to win Olympic men's singles gold, defeated Taku Takakiwa fromJapan 4-1.
Wang Hao, currently the world's number four, left Japan's Koki Niwa no chance and won4-1, too. Fan Zhendong from China, ranked number 5 in the world's global ranking, scoreda 4-2 victory against Eugene Wang from Canada. Thursday's last match was decided by XuXin, who won 4-1 over Chuang Chih-Yuan from Chinese Taipei.
In the tournament's first sensation, Germany's Dimitri Ovtcharov, ranked the world'snumber six, lost in a neck and neck battle against South Korea's Kim Minseok, who isranked number 27, in 4-3.
A total prize money of one million dollars will be distributed, represented the highest totalprize money in table tennis, according to the ITTF. The finals of the women's and men'ssingles will take place on Sunday, Jan. 12.
The tournament involves all best players from the GAC Group 2013 World Tour, whichcomprised 19 events in 18 countries and regions during 2013.
