Portugal’s Marcos Freitas, the no.1 seed in the Under 21 Men’s Singles event at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals in Macau, was in devastating form in his opening duel on Thursday 11th December 2008. He beat Singapore’s Ma Liang in four straight games. Having paid a visit to the local hairdresser and sporting an even shorter hair cut than normal, the Portuguese man-of-war was irrepressible. Ma Liang could offer only minimal resistance as the left hander from the Atlantic island of Madeira sped to victory. Marcos Freitas won 11-4, 11-8, 11-7, 11-3. The teenager who had won the Boys’ Singles crown at the European Youth Championships in 2006 has progressed from boy to man. Feet wide apart to create a base from which he could deliver powerful forehands there was no stopping the rising European star, who is clearly benefitting from the experience of representing Borussia Düsseldorf in the powerful German League. On the few occasions he was forced back from the table he executed heavy topspin returns in the “2005 Michael Maze Shanghai Mould” to force errors and break the heart of Ma Liang. The Portuguese star dominated from start to finish but that was not the situation in the corresponding match in Group A where Chinese Taipei’s Chiang Hung-Chieh had to recover from a two games to nil deficit to beat France’s Emmanuel Lebesson. In typical Gatien – Legout style, the left handed Lebesson attacked quickly with his forehand. He directed his first attacks into the body of the young man from Chinese Taipei but from the third game onwards class told.Chiang Hung-Chieh moved into a different gear, controlled the play, forced errors and underlined the fact that he is a player of high pedigree. Success in Group A for Marcos Freitas and Chiang Hung-Chieh whilst in Group B the victors were Russia’s second seeded Krill Skachkov and France’s Adrien Mattenet. Kirill Skachkov beat the Czech Republic’s Lubomir Jancarik 11-6, 11-6, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6 whilst Adrien Mattenet overcame Singapore’s Liu Zhong Ze 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-5. A high energy player, Kirill Skachkov overpowered Jancarik; repeated use of the reverse service, a strong first attack proved the key to success whilst for Mattenet it was character and determination that brought him through.Liu Zhong Ze was the more fluent player and more likely to win the forehand topspin rallies but clever serving and an abundance of spirit saw the Frenchman home. Adrien Mattenet impressed as did Kirill Skachkov and Chiang Hung-Chieh but if one man has come to Macau with a mission it is Marcos Freitas. He was devastating.

photo and source: by courtesy of ITTF

Tomorrow Thursday 11 December the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals will start with the Under 21 event, in which participates an athlete from the island of Madeira, Portugal. Marcos Freitas no. 1 seed in the Under 21 event was placed in the Group A and will face Singapore’s Ma Liang (no. 6) at 10:45am (local time), France’s Emmanuel Lebesson (no. 4) at 4:45pm ( local time) and Chinese Taipei’s Chiang Hung-Chieh (no. 7) at 6:15pm (local time).

photo: ITTF

The Portuguese Marcos Freitas no.1 seed in the Under 21 Boys Singles event, is already in Macao to dispute the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals originally scheduled for 18th to 21st December 2008 but now staged one week earlier. The prestigious tournament, that will bring the table tennis calendar to a conclusion in the Olympic year, will now be staged in Macao from 11th to 14th December 2008. “The main reason why we changed the date is the fact that the later date clashes with the annual recognition celebration of the handover of Macao to China from Portugal”, explained TMS Managing Director Anders Thunström. “No television crew or equipment will be available on these dates.”Responsible for marketing on the ITTF Pro Tour; Anders Thunström explained further that Volkswagen, the sponsor, was very much in favour of the event being staged in Macao and that overall a very suitable solution has been reached.

Marcos Freitas’ team Borussia Düsseldorf, won yesterday with 3:2 SV Plüderhausen at first German League. Christian Süß and Marcos Freitas lost their challenges against Chu Yan Leung and Aleksandar Karakasevic, in five and three games respectively, with the margins of (5-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 4-11) and (8-11, 6-11, 10-12). Meanwhile, Dimitrij Ovtcharov was at his best level and won both matches in four games. Dima beat the Polish Jacub Kosowski (11-6, 11-2, 8-11, 14-12) before overcame Hong Kong’s Chu Yan Leung (11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8). In the decisive game, Borussia's pair Freitas / Süß won the opponent double Karakasevic / Kosowski, in a hard five games duel.The fighter pair recovered from a two games to nil deficit and the very brink of defeat to win by the narrowest of margins. They succeeded 4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9. In the next meeting at German League, Borussia Düsseldorf will face TTC indeland Jülich on 21 December at 3:00pm.

photo: Matthias Ernest

On the lists issued by the International Table Tennis Federation on Wednesday 3rd December 2008, the Portuguese Marcos Freitas who plays at Borussia Düsseldorf appears at no.84 having previously been ranked at no.76. In the Under 21 Men’s Rankings, Marcos fell one place. Otherwise, it is as last month. Ma Long and Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov occupy the top two places in the Under 21 Men’s Rankings while Portugal’s Marcos Freitas changes places with the German Patrick Baum.