September 10, 2008
Paralympic Games: Day Four Review
Women’s Individual Class 1 Ceremony
(left to right) Pamela Pezzutto (Italy), Liu Jing (China), Clara Podda (Italy)
(Photo Courtesy of ITTF/Photo by Jiri Danek)
Courtesy of Beijing Organizing Committee
Day Four Review
(BEIJING, September 10) -- Andrea Zimmerer of Germany, Clara Podda of Italy, Kelly Van Zon of Netherlands and Tommy Urhaug of Norway, all seeded No.1 in their respective classes in the Table Tennis events at the Peking University Gymnasium, lost at the semifinal stage. Two Athens 2004 Paralympic champions, Mateja Pintar of Slovania and Zhang Xiaoling of China, also tasted defeat.
Zimmerer was beaten by Gu Gai of China in the Women's Individual Class 5 and Podda lost to Liu Jing of China in Women's Individual Classes 1/2. Van Zon experienced defeat in a nail-biting duel against Natalia Martyasheva of Russia in Women's Individual Classes 6/7. In Men's Individual Class 5, the man to cause Urhaug heartache was Christophe Durand of France.
Meanwhile, Li Qian of China ended the reign of Pintar in Women's Individual Class 3 and Josefin Abrahamsson of Sweden accounted for Zhang in Women's Individual Class 8.
However, the counterpart semifinal matches results were according to form.
The Women's Individual Class 3 saw Alena Kanova of Slovakia, the Athens bronze medalist, beat Michela Brunelli of Italy, while in Women's Individual Class 5, Ren Guixiang of China, the Athens champion, overcame Khetam Abuawad of Jordan.
In Women's Individual Classes 6/7, Yulia Ovsyannikova of Russia overcame Faiza Mahmoud Afify of Egypt and, in Women's Individual Class 8, Thu Kamkasomphou of France, the No.1 seed, defeated compatriot Claire Mairie. Meanwhile, in Men's Individual Class 4/5, Jung Eun-Chang of the Republic of Korea, the Athens silver medalist, accounted for Sameh Saleh of Egypt.
All the remaining events matters at the semifinal stage went very much according to form.
In Women's Individual Class 10, Natalia Partyka of Poland, No.1 seed and defending champion, beat Michala La Bourdonnaye of the Czech Republic, while in the all Chinese affair, Fan Lei of China overcame her compatriot Hou Chunxiao.
Similarly in the Women's Individual Class 9, there was a smooth passage for the No.1 seed. Lei Lina of China, who defeated Malgorzata Grzelak of Poland. Liu Meili of China beat Nesilhan Kavas of Turkey, thus, the final will be a repeat of the Athens 2004 final when Liu prevailed.
China enjoyed success in Women's Individual Class 9, although in the Men's Individual Class 1 it was mixed fortunes for the Republic of Korea (ROK). Cho Jae-kwan of the ROK defeated Jean-Francois Ducay France but team mate Lee Hae-kon lost to top seed Andreas Vevera of Austria.
Also, there was a reversal for the Republic of Korea in Men's Individual Class 2. Kim Kyung-mook, the Athens 2004 bronze medalist, was beaten by Vincent Boury of France as, in the counterpart semifinal, Stephane Molliens of France overcame Lars Hansen of Denmark.
Both were wins for European players, and that was also the situation in Men's Individual Class 6 where all four semifinalists came from that continent. Daniel Arnold of Germany, No.1 seed and defending champion, beat Nico Blok of Netherlands, while Peter Rosenmeier of Denmark, the No.2 seed, accounted for Rainer Schmidt of Germany.
And so the top two seeds will contest the gold medal. And in Men's Individual Class 7 it is the same scenario. At the penultimate stage, Jochen Wollmert of Germany, seeded No.1, beat Alvaro Valera of Spain and Ye Chaoqun of China, seeded No.2, overcame Mitchell Seidenfeld of the United States.
Another victory for China - and that was also the situation in Men's Individual Class 8 and Men's Individual Class 9/10.
In the former, Chen Gang of China defeated colleague Li Manzhou, while Piotr Grudzien of Poland overcame Miroslav Jambor of Slovakia. In the latter Ma Lin of China defeated Fredrik Andersson of Sweden and meets compatriot Ge Yang of China, the winner over Gerben Last of Netherlands, in the final.
Success as expected for Ge, the Athens Class 10 bronze medalist against Last, a Class 9 player, but the win of Ma was not expected. He is a Class 9 player going against Andersson, who was the Athens 2004 Class 10 silver medalist.
Day Four North American Results
Men's Ind. - Class 7 Semifinal 2 |
|||
YE Chaoqun (CHN) |
vs. |
SEIDENFELD Mitchell (USA) |
3-0 |
| 11-9, 11-4, 15-13 | |||
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