Korean Winner At National Championships

A Kiwi born winner is a rarity at the national table tennis championships with the tradition of overseas players from Asia dominating. The 2009 tournament held in Auckland was no different.

Commonwealth Games rep second seed Shane Laugesen had to battle his way into the final with a four games to one win over Canterbury’s John Cordue in the semifinal and then in the final found top seed Jung Jae Lee of Korea a bit too tough.

The Korean won the contest 11-3 13-11 11-9 11-7 being too sharp when the rallies went past a few shots and also making less unforced errors. The strength of Lee was shown in the fact he never dropped a game in any of his matches.

Royal Oak resident Laugesen won the national title in 2007 and prior to that had been the previous Kiwi winner in 1996.

Laugesen wasn’t certain of playing in the tournament as a result of a back injury which meant he wasn’t selected for Auckland’s top team. He eventually decided to make himself available for the second team which duly won the title thanks to his presence.

Laugesen also won the men’s doubles title teaming with fellow Aucklander Liu Chao as they defeated the Canterbury pair of Cordue and Simon Wallace.

The women’s open championship was dominated by a group of Koreans who gained all four places in the semifinals dispatching New Zealand’s best, Karen Li in the earlier rounds. Fourth seed Kim Su Jin beat unseeded Park Cha Ra in six games for the women’s title.

Results Cathy Pacific New Zealand Open, Auckland.

Men’s singles open quarterfinals:

(1)Jung Jae Lee(Korea) bt Lingman Kong(Auckland) 11-4 11-4 11-2 11-3, (6)Simon Wallace(Canterbury) bt (4)Chao Liu(Auckland) default – injured, (3)John Cordue(Canterbury) bt (5)Phillip Xiao(Auckland) 8-11 12-10 7-11 12-10 11-6 11-6, (2)Shane Laugesen(Auckland) bt (8)Josh Alexandre(Auckland) 11-4 8-11 11-8 11-4 11-7.

Semifinals:

Lee bt Wallace 11-2 11-4 11-5 11-5, Laugesen bt Cordue 9-15 12-14 11-7 11-4 11-4.

Final:

Lee bt Laugesen

Women’s singles open semifinals:

(4)Su Jin Kim bt (1)Young Suk Park(Korea) 4-11 11-9 10-11 11-7 11-5 12-10, Cha Ra Park(Korea) bt (2) Hyo Won Seo(Korea) 11-9 9-11 11-9 11-5 10-12 11-7.

Final:

Kim bt Park 11-7 8-11 9-11 11-7 11-9 11-5.

Men’s doubles final:

Shane Laugesen/Liu Chao(Auckland) bt John Cordue/Simon Wallace(Canterbury) 11-5 10-12 11-9 11-5

Women’s doubles final:

Kim Soong Sil/Park Young Suk(Korea)/ Park Cha Ra/Seo Hyo Won(Korea) 12-10 7-11 11-7 11-8.