February 18, 2010
Qatar Open: Doing Things the Hard Way, the Ruwen Filus Way
 A time for reflection for the hard working Ruwen Filus Photo By: Adel Hakouz |
Courtesy of ITTF He prefers the hard way, or at least that would seem to be the situation at the Qatar Open in Doha on Thursday February 18, 2010. |
He secured first place in his group by beating Korea’s Lee Sang Su in a grueling seven games encounter in the morning, then in mid afternoon he did the same against England’s Paul Drinkhall.
In a full distance encounter he booked his place in the main draw against an adversary who had impressed in the morning session of play.
Followed Chinese Example
The Englishman had concluded his group matches with a six games win over 17 year old Korean Kim Min Seok, the reigning Asian Junior Boys’ Singles champion and a player who oozes ability.
Drinkhall played in Fang Bo like manner to beat the talented Korean, a severe first attack and direct the early attacks towards the backhand; don’t give him time to extol his artistry.
Successful in Colombia
In Cartagena de Indias, it was the successful tactic for China’s Fang Bo at the Volkswagen World Junior Championships as he beat Kim Min Seok on his way to winning the Boys’ Singles title. In Doha it was the same for Paul Drinkhall in order to secure top place in his group.
Six Preliminary Round Competitors
Ruwen Filus was one of six players who had to compete in the Preliminary Round of proceedings in order to progress to the second stage.
In the other two matches Russia’s Alexey Liventsov beat Sweden’s Robert Svensson in six games, whilst Korea’s Seo Hyun Deok defeated Japan’s Kenji Matsudaira in style. He won in four straight games.
Places in the main draw for Alexey Liventsov, Ruwen Filus and Seo Hyun Deok and with one exception the leading names all progressed.
One Exception
The one exception was Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia; the third highest world ranked player in action in the qualification stage of the Men’s Singles event, he completed his group matches with victory over Iran’s Mohammedreza Akhlaghpasand but defeat one day earlier against the Czech Republic’s 19 year old Tomas Tregler cost him dear.
Tregler having also beaten Mohammedreza Akhlaghpasand progressed to the main draw as the group winner.
Leading Names Succeed
However for the top two, Sweden’s Pär Gerell and Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive it was a safe passage, as it was for Poland’s Wang Zeng Yi, the no.4 seed.
Similarly, Croatia’s Andrej Grubba, Singapore’s Yang Zi, the Czech Republic’s Petr Korbel and Hungary’s Janos Jakab; the fifth to eight highest world ranked players in the qualification stage of the Men’s Singles event all progressed without alarm.
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