POSTED: Friday October 16th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHINESE TEENAGER PREVAILS ON HOME SOIL

LIU Shiwen won the Volkswagen 2009 Women’s World Cup in Guangzhou

Guangzhou/Lausanne, – LIU Shiwen won the Volkswagen 2009 Women’s World Cup in Guangzhou. The 18 year old overcame her compatriot GUO Yue in seven games 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-3, 3-11, 11-3. It is the first big international title for LIU. She has prevailed at three events on this year’s ITTF Pro Tour and is also leading in the Points Standings, but never before has she won a Singles title at World Championships, a World Cup or at Olympic Games.

Keeping Alive in the Fourth Game
GUO Yue, 2007 World Singles champion and 2008 Olympic Team champion, had a bad start but won the second and the third game. In the fourth game, the 21 year old missed a premature decision. LIU Shiwen put up some resistance and saved two game points of her opponent and used her first game point.

A Rising Star
LIU prevailed against GUO like in the final of the ITTF Pro Tour Harmony China Open in Su Zhou four months ago and levelled the head to head on the international scene to 3 to 3. Thanks to a flawless seventh game, the teenager from Liaoning Province secured prize money of US$ 45,000. Runner-up GUO Yue is recompensed with 25,000, while bronze medallist LI Xiaoxia wins 15,000 dollars.

Three Chinese on the Podium
In the bronze medal match, LI Xiaoxia of China outplayed Singapore’s FENG Tianwei in four straight games. The best players from Europe lost in the quarter-finals. Austria’s LIU Jia was stopped by GUO Yue, while the Dutch LI Jiao lost to LI Xiaoxia.

Compared to this year, last year’s World Cup in Malaysia was not that successful from a Chinese perspective. Winner LI Xiaoxia was the only Chinese player on the podium in Malaysia. On home soil in Guangzhou, however, the Chinese were dominant. Only LI Xiaoxia lost to Japan’s Ai FUKUHARA in the first stage.

The final was broadcast live from the Guangzhou Gymnasium and can be seen again on ITTF’s free of charge online channel itTV on http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/itTV.asp?category=ittv_New.

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Keywords · LIU Shiwen · Volkswagen 2009 Women’s World Cup · China · GUO Yue

Name: Marius Widmer
Organization: International Table Tennis Federation
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URL: http://www.ittf.com

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