Monday September 11, 2006
Rooting for his idol
By RAJES PAUL
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The 21-year-old Shakirin is one of the many current and former international players who will get to watch the world's top seven players in action.
Belarus star Samsonov is currently ranked fifth in the world.
“I will certainly not miss this Challenge. Vladimir is my favourite player. I will be rooting for his team,” said Shakirin, who won a bronze medal in the Manila SEA Games last December.
Samsonov's team will also have Germany's Timo Boll and South Korean Oh Sang-eun, who are now ranked second and seventh in the world.
They will be up against an array of Chinese stars, led by world number one Wang Liqin. The others in the team are Ma Lin (No. 3) and Chen Qi (No. 6).
Like former world number one Boll, the right-handed Samsonov is definitely a match against the Chinese. The 30-year-old Samsonov has been impressive this year – winning two Open titles, in Chile and in Croatia.
Prior to that, his performances in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Pro-Tour had been outstanding. He won a total 14 men's singles titles.
In the Challenge tomorrow, Samsanov is expected to play against Ma Lin. After losing in their last three encounters, the veteran will be out to achieve his first-ever win over the three-time World Cup champion.
The tie will be decided on a best-of-five matches – two singles, one double and two reverse singles. Each player can play two matches.
The winning team will receive US$60,000 while the losing team will pocket US$30,000.
Besides the main event, Malaysia's top female player Beh Lee Wei will be pitting her skills against Wang Nan of China, who has 19 world titles under her belt.
All the players for the Challenge will arrive today.
Tickets for the Challenge are priced at RM10 and RM50 and can be bought at the TTAM office in Taman Maluri, Cheras. For further enquiries, call 03-92811497.
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