Ma Long takes number one back

Ma Long / E-Pingpong.pl

The 2011 Mens Singles Table Tennis Pro Tour Finals Champion title was given to 23-year-old Ma Long, again for the third time. His first win was in 2008 in Macau and the next year after that he was the winner again. But unfortunately the streak ended for the athlete. In 2010 his title went to Jun Mizutani another great table tennis player representing Japan. He is currently number one in the world.

Currently Long represents China; he is a back hand dominant player, has a lot of power and plays in the pen hold, a common hold for many Chinese players.

This year the 23-year-old talent had made it to the finals again to win his title back. The match on November 27th in London was one of the most interesting matches. Long was playing against Zheng Jike also representing China. The interesting part was that Zheng Jike is also a back hand dominant player and also uses the pen hold. When you see two players that are so alike play each other it really brings out the skills in each player. And to top everything off this was the finals to determine who would be number one.

Before the game started none of the players were found practicing. Long wasn’t even at the table and Jike was taking a quick nap next to the table. Some might have called it an interesting way to prepare for the game.

When the match started both played extremely well. In the first game Long won easily beating Jike by six points. But Jike fought back and won just barely in the second game. The next two games were an easy finish for Long which beat Jike by seven and eight points.

When the fifth game came both players knew this game was the most crucial of them all. This would determine who would win the match. Both played furiously. It was hard to tell who would win the game as the scores where close to tied. They then made it into deuce and it was then that Long beat Jike by two points making the score 14-12. The match ended and Long was automatically declared as winner since this was a best out of seven. Long had already won four which meant that even if Jike won the next two games the winner would still be Long.

The match was another win for Long and with that he had won back his title of number one back. The records were 11-5, 9-11, 11-3, 11-4, and 14-12. Currently in every singles match they have played Long has always won.