Giải vô địch thế giới 1997 - Vũ Mạnh Cường

Giải vô địch thế giới 1997 - Vũ Mạnh Cường

Jan-Ove Waldner once again proved why he is "The Man" when the title is on the line. With the same dominance he demonstrated claiming the 92 Olympic Gold Medal in Barcelona, Waldner dismissed all seven opponents in straight games to reclaim the 1996 World''s Men''s Singles St. Bride''s trophy. Frequently a slow starter, many felt after the disastrous encounters he experienced in the team event at the hands of the Saive Brothers and Samsonov, that the 31-year-old Swede was about to relinquish his claim as the best player in the world. Even the better players were beginning to talk. After striking gold in the Teams, Chinese star, Wang Tao profoundly and politely voiced, "Waldner''s talents may never be seen again and it has been a privilege to play for China against him. He has been at the top of the game for 15 whole years and that''s the sign of a great champion."

Whether J-O used these words as a source of motivation we will never know. It would be interesting to find out what fuels a player who has done it all? Winner of seven European Top 12s, four times a World Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, European Champion and winner of every international event he has entered at least once, this wizard continues to pull victory after victory out of his magic hat. When he does decide to retire, which will hopefully be years away, we will lose a true innovator who has changed the face and spin of the game forever.

This year''s Worlds was no different than your average three-ring circus with more fast-paced action than was humanly viewable. After the four qualifying rounds, the main draw was posted with 128 players hungry and capable players. US players: Rasvan, Eric and Barney all ran into stiff competition in their first World showing and departed before making the main event. Two-time US Champion, David Zhuang got some sweet revenge after losing in the qualifiers by winning the newly revived consolation event and taking home a medal of his own.

Initially it appeared that Waldner had been given a kinder and gentler draw than Kong Linghui, the defending world champion and #1 seed. Kong drew 1991 world champion Jorgen Persson in his half along with Jean-Michel Saive of Belgium, Peter Karlsson of Sweden, Yoo Nam Kyu of South Korea and Samsonov of Belarus. Not that those were the only ones he had to be concerned about, he could easily run into any of his teammates: Ma Wenge, defender Ding Song or Ma Lin.

On the bottom half of the draw, Waldner did have his work cut out for him with China''s Olympic champion Liu Guoliang, Asian Games winner Wang Tao, Kim Taek Soo of South Korea, Zoran Primorac of Croatia and the 1993 world champion, Jean-Philippe Gatien of France.

Round 1 - Round of 128
Image having a tournament with: World Cup winner - Andrzej Grubba of Poland, Sears Invitational champ - Matthew Syed and Alan Cooke of England, and Philippe Saive of Belgium, who had beaten Waldner in the Teams. Then add, Eloi of France, Truksa of Slovakia, the always vocal Cabrera of Belgium, pips-out hitting Ding Yi of Austria, Peter Franz of Germany and doubles specialist Lee Chul Song of Korea. Why? Well, they were all available after the first round! Being a national champion means almost nothing once you are in "the show" where everyone is upset minded and going for winners. The tops seeds all advanced with ease.

Waldner had little trouble beating Vietnam''s 254th world-ranked Vu Manh Cuong 21-15, 21-14, 21-11. On the center court, he emerged off the blocks, serving and angling to a comfortable 21-15 victory. Vu Manh Cuong took an early lead 8-7 in the second set, but Waldner tied the game at 10 and opened up another lead. At 16-12, a slight controversy occurred as J-O hit the ball around the net and onto the table for a winner. The heavy sidespin loop bounced so low, the umpire thought Waldner had missed the shot and gave the point to Vu and the match continued at 16-13. Four points later, the scored was out of sync, the new Swedish coach Ulf Carlsson finally protested and Vu sportingly gave Waldner a point for the previous winner. J-O finished the second game at 21-14 with a flat smash . Then Waldner, from 10-9 ahead, won nine points in a row before shaking hands at 21-11.

Round 2 - Round of 64
Major upsets began to become commonplace as the field shrank in half. 1996 Olympic Champion, Liu Guoliang exited stage left, at the hands of Yugoslav Alexander Karakesevic, a strong world ranked 109th in the, in a five-game thriller. Liu, seeded third and regarded as a strong candidate to dethrone compatriot Kong Linghui, lost 17-21, 21-16, 21-10, 18-21, 21-13.

No one could have been happier for Karakesevic than his father (and team coach) Milivoy who had competed internationally for Yugoslavia in the 1980s. Interestedly, Papa Karakasevic a penhold player helped warm up his left-handed shakehands son prior to the match. Going into the match, the young Yugo had boasted he felt very confident knowing his wide angled shots out to Lui''s forehand, would give the heavy favorite difficulty. However, the key to his winning performance was his serve return, which was flawless.

1991 world champion, Jorgen Persson duplicated his 1993 performance of departing prematurely by falling to China''s Wang Liqin, 21-19 21-15 20-22 12-21 21-14 in his second round match. Everyone watching felt after Persson saved two match points in the third and won the fourth that the Swede had found his rhythm. However, the young Chinese never eased his attack and forced Persson to focus on men''s doubles with partner, Waldner.

Carl Prean of England was responsible for upset number three by taking out another Olympic Gold Medalist, Yoo Nam Kyu, from South Korea, to reach the last 32. Carl continued to pin Yoo on the backhand side and then take him out to the wide forehand with his off-balanced looking forehand loop. Carl''s comeback from 1-10 down in the third proved pivotal in the 17-21, 21-15, 21-18, 21-17 victory and thrilled those applauding their countryman.

Germany''s Jorg Rosskopf, a bronze medalist in singles in Atlanta, also received an exit pass, courtesy of Sweden''s Thomas von Scheele. Both of these lefties went at it with ferocious crosscourt backhand off the table loops until one had the guts to either go down the line or step around. Thomas kept his cool down 2-1 and trailing in the fourth before prevailing at 16 in the fifth. Koji Matsu****a of Japan outlasted current US Champion, Cheng Yinghua in four tight games to set up a match in the round of 32 with Wang Tao.

Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, the 4th seed sent a loud message to everyone, by destroying Japanese national champion Kiyonobu Iwasaki 21-6 21-6 21-9. Vlady''s extremely high-toss serve and supreme counterlooping ability was never sharper. As soon as Iwasaki would get ready to congratulate himself on a winner, Samsonov would return it with an even wider corner placed shot.

Waldner, who won 2-0 in the team event, again faced Samsonov''s teammate, the ginsu-style chopper, Evgueni Chtchetinine. If you had to pick one player in the World to beat a chopper, it''s J-O, and again he showed why, with a relaxed 21-17 21-11 21-17 triumph.

Round 3 - Round of 32
Thirty-two players were all shooting for the sweet sixteen as Belgian''s former world number one Jean-Michel Saive, was dealt a slicing blow by Hiroshi Shibutani of Japan, 18-21, 21-16, 12-21, 21-19, 21-10. Shibutani, world number 38, and no stranger to this portion of the draw, continued to return just one more ball than Jean-Michel could handle. His spin was so well disguised that often the Belgium would hit it into the bottom of the net, or sail it 10 feet off the end of the table. Saive, who softly netted the last forehand drive, surely didn''t want to see another defender as was also beaten by J-O''s last opponent in the team event.

The closest match of the round belonged to China''s former World Cup winner Ma Wenge over Greece''s Romanian-born Kalinikos Kreanga, 21-19, 19-21, 26-24, 23-25, 21-17. Kreanga, who had taken two from us in the team event, surprised many when he lead his squad all the way to the quarters by beating Samsonov along the way. This time, however, his unrelenting attack came up four points short on an older and more seasoned Ma.

The fastest feet in the east, South Korea''s Kim Taek Soo, lost a heartbreaker to another one of China''s rising new stars Yan Sen, ranked just 47. Yan, a left-handed penholder, was able to match Kim''s third-ball-attack and carried the match 21-16, 20-22, 21-19, 15-21, 21-17.

Waldner was the only Swede left after looping though Lupulesko of Yugoslavia in straight sets. In both battles of future Swedish stars, Peter Karlsson lost in five to a new and improved Werner Schlager of Austria and Thomas Von Scheele lost in four to Lucjan Blaszczyk of Poland. The young Pole continued where he had left off in Tianjin by making the latter rounds where he would face Spanish-Chinese He Zhi Wen, who had eliminated Cinderella-story Karakesevic 3-0. Samsonov was too steady for China''s Ma Lin and a slightly over-weight Slovakia''s Milan Grman proved he still had some spring in his legs by taking out France''s Patrick Chila 17-21, 21-11, 21-7, 19-21, 15-21.

Round 4 - Round of 16
The preferred match-up that had the spectators scrambling for seats for, was World Cup champion, Zoran Primorac versus Waldner. Zoran, has had a very good record in the past against Waldner, especially at the Worlds. But just as all others who had come before him, he too went down in flames to the Swede. Zoki could never get anything going and played catch-up throughout the match. If he opened, Waldner counter-attacked, if he let J-O open, the point was finished. With his 21-16, 21-13, 21-13, J-O became the first quarterfinalist.

An equally interesting match featured two of the best lefties in the World, Jean-Philippe Gatien of France versus Wang Tao. Gatien got a little sweet revenge beating Korbel of Czech in the previous round while Wang had little trouble with Matsu****a. Gatien''s father keep the crowd involved chanting, "Allez, Philo" and trumpeting his horn every time his son won a critical point. At 20-19 in the first, Philo dodged a scare as Wang erred by flipping an easy serve off with his backhand. During the coaching break, Wang Tao seemed disinterested in the match as Coach Cai Zhenhua tried his best to motivate him. Games two and three were just as lack-luster as the first and Gatien cruised at 17 and 17. Rumors were that Wang Tao was told after his stellar performance in the team event that he would be asked to play for another year on the Chinese team instead of becoming a free agent and heading to Europe to cash on big money for league play.

China''s Ma Wenge down 19-10 in the first, ran the game out on Shibutani at 19, never pushing more than one ball per point! The Japanese chopper managed to win one game but was clearly over-powered. The other remaining chopper, silently made his way to the final 16, Ding Song had absolutely no trouble dispatching Grman of Slovakia at 19, 14, 9. Ding was quoted before the tournament saying he wanted a chance to play Samsonov to get revenge from their first meeting. The defensive star with clearly the best forehand loop got his wish as Samsonov too survived a marathon with Wang Liqin, 19 in the fourth.

The number of matches began to take their toll on Kong Linghui. Whereas, Waldner opted out of mixed doubles and the last few matches in the team event, Kong had been going non-stop since day one. Austria''s Schlager kept Kong on his toes by winning the third at 17, but couldn''t contain the Chinese sensation. Spain''s entry into the final 16, He Zhi Wen, proved with a strong serve and follow, anything is possible. He defeated Blasczyk of Poland with relative ease.

Our neighbor to the north, Johnny Huang played a marvelous hard fought match with yet one more future star from China, Yan Sen. The rule is, I understand, is that any country with a player ranked in the top 12 in the world is allowed one extra spot in singles. Since China has more than a few in the top 10, they had the maximum, 3 ad***ional players for singles play only. Johnny came back after being down 17-12 in the second, after losing the first with a fury of forehand and backhand cracks that even amazed him. He continued getting his attack in first and took the third at 16 but came up short in the final two games to this penholder with a fierce "other-side-of-the-racket" backhand loop. Final scores were: 17, -20, -16, 18, 18.

Quarter-Finals
The grudge match got underway on table four as Samsonov proved that if you can read spin you can keep a world-class chopper from attacking. Would you consider 13, 9, 10 to be a close match? I wouldn''t and it wasn''t. Vladimir had absolutely no problem returning serve or driving loops past Ding on the forehand side.

In an all Chinese quarters between Kong Linghui and Ma Wenge, it resembles a match between old guard and new. Ma came out swinging and drew first blood winning game one, at 16. Things continued to go his way as he built a 20-15 lead in the second. Seven lifeless points later, it was one game a piece as the two players went to their respective coach-less corners for water. Both players seemed more interested in neighboring matches progressing as they sped through their final three games without breaking a sweat. There was no doubt that Kong was now the chosen one for China to bring home the gold.

In the other all Chinese (national vs. foreign national) quarters, Yan Sen dealt with Spain''s He Zhi Wen''s long spinny serves and follow, with a few of his own. The third game Yan won at 13, the other three were all at nineteen.

Waldner and Gatien claimed the final table, guaranteeing at least one more European would be joining Samsonov in the semi''s. This was a rematch of the Barcelona Olympic finals, which many would agree Gatien would have liked wiped from his memory cells. Waldner stormed out of the gates and opened up a huge lead before cruising to a 21-7 victory. The second game was nip and tuck the entire way with no one leading by more than 3 points. Waldner having the serve at the end, proved to be the difference, winning in deuce. Down 2-0, you could see that neither Philo''s father horn nor J-O''s risky place was going to stop the Swedish express from entering the final four. Final game, 21-14 to Waldner.

Semi-Finals
The first semi-final match was between Waldner and Yan Sen. In the first fourteen points, Waldner scored a grand total of three points! Serve and bullet, from both the forehand and backhand side. Even more amazing, was this young upshot Chinese was winning a fair share of his points with his backhand loop, as a penholder! Waldner seemed ready to throw in the towel but decided to ride the wave for a few more rallies. Armed with his serve, J-O pulled out some of his hidden underspin serves forcing Yan to net them for the first time. A few points later, J-O has found his range and got his racket on a few of the missiles Yan has launched and expertly landed them in the open court. And in the blink of an eye, Waldner now is leading 17-15! Yan looked over at his coach for an explanation, but none was given. Waldner won at 17, keeping his perfect game record in tack. Games two and three were identical to the last fifteen points of game one, as J-O blew through Yan''s soft offense at 14 and 12, sending the sensational Swede into his fourth world singles final.

Semi-final number two, pitted the current World Champion Kong, against the giant killer from Belarus. Samsonov expressed earlier in the week how unfair he felt he was being treated by his association. It seemed there is a sports law in his country which states that athletes must return 20% of their prize money to the national association when they are sent abroad. Since previously no players from Belarus had been major winners, no one knew of the rule. Upon returning from his last successful competition, officials handed him a bill for back taxes. What made it more unbelievable was the fact he had paid his own way to the event! Definitely something you don''t want on your mind going into a major event. The tactics were very clear from the start, Vladimir would use his high toss to get his first loop into the middle and drop Kong''s serve as short as possible to stop him from attacking. This worked on Kong as it had on all of his previous teammates, game one 21-15 to Samsonov. Kong attempted to shorten his serve returns but Samsonov with his towering frame kept the advantage he had created in the first game. When the two got into extended rallies the crowd went wild, cheering as both players off the table, attacking with all their might. When Samsonov won game two at 18, it looked as if China would be denied its complete sweep of all seven events. Kong went for more in game three but couldn''t keep up the fire power in the fourth and finally succumbed at 17. (Only Table Tennis Legends producer, Bobby Gusikoff could have better predicted an all European final before the quarters began but that is exactly what panned out.) A happy Samsonov had no problem welcoming the tax man as he readied for the finals.

Finals
The stage was set for the clash of the titans. In one corner you had a player in his fourth finals, whereas in the other, a player who if he continue to improve at his current pace will probably play in the next four. Their head to head record stood at four all, but they had played 4 days earlier and it was all Samsonov winning at 6 and 7. One game of that match had found him up 16-1. The older crowd put their money on Waldner, while many of the current players felt Samsonov had just too difficult of a style for Waldner to handle.

Longer rallies absolutely favored Samsonov. His return of serve surely seemed as if it should nullify J-O''s best weapon. J-O decided to completely change what had worked over the last six rounds and played with the offensive power of Kim Tak Soo and the off the bounce pace of Gatien. This totally caught the first time finalist off guard, as J-O secured the first game 21-12. Up 14-11 in the second Waldner''s steam engine ran cool as Samsonov scored on five identical long rallied points to take a commanding 16-14 lead. J-O redoubled his efforts and scored on two more clean winners and outlasted Samsonov on two of three rallies, to go up 18-17. At 20-17, Waldner got slightly out of position and smashed in a winner that pretty much summed up where the match was headed.

With an insurmountable lead and a matching level of confidence, J-O was able to take shots to the astonishment of every in the hall, especially Samsonov. In less than 18 minutes the entire match was signed, sealed, and delivered to the player most people thought had seen the last of his glory days. Waldner collapsed to the floor in sheer joy only to be tossed in the air by his teammates just as they had done eight years previously in Dortmund. A fitting display of praise indeed, for a most deserving champion.

Có thể bài này tiếng Anh hơi dài nên tôi sẽ tóm lược lại:
Giải vô địch bóng bàn thế giới lần thứ 44 ở Manchester. Bước vào giải Waldner vừa bị thua te tua trước anh em Saive và Samsonov. Vương Đào "nói kháy": đây là lần cuối cùng chúng ta nhìn thấy một tài năng vĩ đại thể hiện" sau khi cùng Trung Quốc thắng ở giải đồng đội nam thế giới.
Sau khi chia bảng tay vợt hạt giống số 1 và là đương kim vô địch Khổng lệnh Huy có vẻ xui vì sẽ gặp những đại thụ sau:
Jean-Michel Saive , Peter Karlsson, Yoo Nam Kyu, Samsonov và có thể là đồng đội Đinh Tùng hoặc Mã Lâm.
Waldner có vẻ được bốc thăm vào nửa dễ chịu hơn với Lưu Quốc Lương, Vương Đào, Kim Trạch Chu, Zoran Primorac và Jean-Philippe Gatien.
Với những cuộc lật đổ ngoạn mục gần như hầu hết các tay vợt nói trên đều bị loại trước khi vào đến tứ kết. Ở tứ kết có một tay vợt trẻ mới nổi của Trung Quốc là Diêm Thâm đã lật đổ Kim Trạch Chu ở vòng trước loại tay vợt gai Hà Trí Văn của Tây Ban Nha (sau này loại Schlarger ở giải lần thứ 48) để vào bán kết gặp Waldner. Khổng cũng không mấy khó khăn trước Mã Văn Cách để vào bán kết gặp Samsonov. Tại bán kết Khổng không chịu nổi cánh tay dài như vượn và thân hình cao lênh khênh như cái tháp của Samsonov đành thúc thủ 3-1. Waldner sau một vài bóng khởi đầu khó khăn trước Diêm Thâm đã bắt bài đối thủ và liên tục ăn vã phát bóng hoặc 3rd ball attack, dễ dàng loại bỏ đối thủ với tỉ số 3-0.
Trước trận chung kết người ta nghĩ Waldner thật tuyệt vì 4 lần có mặt ở trận chung kết (87, 89, 91, 97) thì người ta dự đoán Samsonov sẽ là người 4 lần có mặt ở các trận chung kết sau này. Thế nhưng Waldner, được xem là dưới cửa rất nhiều (vì trước đó đã thua Samsonov với tỉ số khá chênh lệnh) đã đổi lối đánh bằng lối tấn công dũng mãnh của Kim Trạch Chu và đánh bónh nhanh của Gatien đã nhanh chóng đưa Samsonov thành ?ohiện tượng? đồng thời lập một kỷ lục 7 trận không thua môt séc nào trong giải đấu danh giá nhất thế giới.
Một điều đáng chú ý là ở vòng đầu Waldner gặp Vũ Mạnh Cường của Việt Nam. Có một quả Waldner giật xoáy nganh bóng bật lưới nên trọng tài xử cho Vũ manh Cường ăn. Sau khi huấn luyện viên của Waldner phàn nàn Vũ Mạnh Cường đã thả lại cho Waldner ăn một trái. Tinh thần rất thể thao của Vũ Mạnh Cường.

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