April 23, 2009
How Strong is Oh Sang Eun?
 A paragon in terms of technique – Oh Sang Eun at the 2008 Korea Open. Photo By: Courtesy of KTTA |
Courtesy of ITTF Unlike Timo Boll for instance, who played at every possible occasion since the Olympic Games, Oh Sang Eun preferred a silent preparation in Korea. |
Only Olympic Champion Stopped Him
Serious pain in his shoulder forced Oh Sang Eun to a surgical operation in November 2007. Since then, he has seen ups and downs; there was no consistency in his performances.
At the Olympic Games in Beijing, the tall Korean (1.86m) was probably the best male player beside the Chinese. He won all his matches in the Team event and challenged Ma Lin to the bitter end. Thanks to Oh the Korean team won at least the bronze medal.
In the Singles event the Korean, who celebrated recently his 32nd birthday, ousted Timo Boll in the round of the last 16 before he lost again to Ma Lin.
Preparations in the National Training Center
The reverse of the medal is that the man from Taegu did not reach any quarterfinal on the ITTF Pro Tour since the 2007 Taipei Open. However, in this season Oh only played on one occasion, at the Slovenia Open.
“Actually there is no special reason in his absence from international events”, the Secretariat of the Korean Table Tennis Association informed on inquiry. “Now his shoulder is fine and he is preparing the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships in the Korean National Training Center with his team members.”
Timo Boll and Oh Sang Eun: two top players with two completely different preparations for the same event in Yokohama. A rematch of the Olympic clash would be an interesting duel and Oh in a good shape can bother any player.
In two less than weeks we will know, if Boll’s way with Champions League, German league and cup as well as Pro Tour events was the better preparation or if Oh’s solitude was the key to success.
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