Zhang Jike battles to the final to face Wang Hao: 2011
GAC GROUP World Table Tennis Championship
Zhang Jike from China reached the Men's Singles finals of the 2011 GAC GROUP World Table Tennis Championships. The second semi-final was not an all Chinese match. Timo Boll from Germany faced Zhang Jike from China. The match was played on May 14, at the
Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The match was the most awaited semi-finals. The hopes of the European spectators at the Ahoy Arena were shattered by the Chinese, Zhang Jike. Zhang will be playing the first championship final of his table tennis career in the World Championship.
In the semi-final, he defeated Timo in a match of five games. The German player, Boll, is on the second rank of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Men's Singles ranking. In the match he dominated at the start and won the first game. Zhang Jike
was in no mood to lose the chance to play the finals, but he surely kept his nerves and won the next four games in a row.
In the last game the score were levelled at 9-9, but Zhang won the next two points and sealed the match with a score-line of 7-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-3 and 11-9.
In the quarter-finals Zhang Jike won over his compatriot Wang Liqin in a match of six games. The score-line of the match was 11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6 and 11-7.
Zhang won the 2011 German Open earlier this year. He won gold medal at the World Team Championship held at Japan in 2010. He also won four doubles titles in the ITTF Pro Tours this year at the Slovenian, English, UAE, and German Open.
The title of the Men's Singles is now destined for China. The Chinese are going home with all the top medals along with the runners-up titles. Zhang will be facing Wang Hao, who is the winner of Volkswagen Cup held earlier this year.
Wang is the top-seeded player of the championship and have cruised his way to final. Zhang will have to give his best to win against Wang to earn his first World Championship title.
The finals of the Men’s singles will be played on the evening of May 15 at the Grand Ahoy Arena.
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