Rashid Omar may not be as gifted and talented as the world’s top table tennis stars but he displayed enough determination and skill to prove that UAE were not just making the numbers as hosts of the World Team Cup Classic at Al Nasr Club on Tuesday night.
After a spectacular opening ceremony at Rashid bin Hamdan indoor hall featuring acrobatic stunts, Omar raised the expectations of the home fans with a come-from-behind victory against Canada’s second player Pierre Luc Hinse in the first singles.
It was a dream start for UAE in their quest to secure a place in the main draw from the Intercontinental group also featuring Nigeria and Australia. But a mixed performance by the UAE pair in the doubles after Jassem Linjawi was beaten by Canada’s top player Pradeeban Peter-Paul in the second singles, left 22 year-old Omar with a mountain to climb to keep alive UAE’s hopes.
However, despite a brilliant start against Xavier Therien, Omar’s challenge fizzled out largely due to a succession of unforced errors.
“It’s an honour to play the opening game in a World Cup representing the national team. I’m proud to be part of team that played today. I tried my best to get two points at least for the team,” said Omar after his memorable performance.
“I think we represented UAE well. Not perfect but well,” he added.
Even before the crowd could settle down, Hinse swept to a 5-1 lead and closed the set 11-3. But Omar regained his composure to match his opponent stroke for stroke to win the second set 11-9 by fearlessly attacking the net.
He continued in the same vein in the third racing to a 4-1 leading forcing his rival to seek a time out and bounce back to level at 5-5. Omar regained the lead 6-5 after a long rally but was edged out 12-10 despite saving two set points.
Omar displayed his wide repertoire of strokes scoring effectively with his forehand cross courts shots to lead 6-1 and breaking Hinse’s serve to take the match to the decider with a 11-8 win.
Energised and finding the right angles surged to a 6-2 lead and 9-3 with some big hits before sealing the match 11-4 to give UAE a 1-0 lead.
“I virtually gifted the first set to him. I wasn’t in the game. Then slowly I came back. Even in the second game it was in my hands 70 per cent,” said Omar when asked how he felt after winning the first match.
Linjawi in contrast looked out of his depth against Pradeeban surrendering tamely 11-3 11-5 11-2 though raising his game a notch in the doubles partnering Faisal Ahmad.
The Canadian pair of Hinse and Xavier clinched the opening set 11-7 although Ahmad managed to give them a 4-3 lead and level at 6-6.
Linjawi got his act together after they trailed 4-0 to claw their way back capitalising on two service mistakes by their opponents while Ahmad finished strongly to give them a 11-7 victory.
But they conceded nine points in a row to squander a 4-2 advantage in the next set which they lost 11-4 and gave away easy points in the fourth to go down 11-8.
Omar exploded into action in the reverse singles against Xavier sweeping to a 7-0 lead in the first set with precision placement to win 11-6 and surge ahead 5-1 in the second set forcing Canada to seek another time out. But suddenly errors crept into his game even while serving and lost the advantage 11-9.
The UAE skipper fought back from 5-1 down to hold set point at 10-9 before being edged 12-10. It was a similar story in the fourth set as he rallied bravely to tie the scores at 8-8 but Xavier prevailed 11-8 to win the tie for Canada.
UAE’s South Korea coach Park Ji was pleased with their overall performance. “It was quite good. But the doubles and last two sets (of Omar) was a little disappointing,” he said.
Park said a misunderstanding caused Omar’s rhythm to be broken. “I asked him to change his serve but it was different. He didn’t understand,” said Park who is keen to build a good foundation for the UAE players.
Omar believed there was no gulf in class although there was a big difference in the rankings of the two teams. “They (Canada) are 42 in the world and we are 75. Obviously there is a big difference but I think there is no big difference in the levels. If our team plays more internationals and have strong training camps, I think we can be in the 30s,” he said.
Earlier in the day, favourites China survived a scare against Japan after the world’s no.1 men’s player Ma Long suffered a shock defeat in straights sets 12-10 11-9 11-7 in the opening singles against Kazuhiro Chan.
Xu Xin helped them rebound by avenging his earlier loss against Kenta Matsudaira 3-1 but it was Hao Shuai who sealed victory for the top seeds. Having partnered Ma Long to a doubles victory over Kazuhiro and Taku Takakiwa, Shuai outplayed Matsudaira 3-1 to deny Japan.
Ma Long appeared to be sluggish in his movements and rusty in attack. “He was not playing at his best and seems to be affected by the injury,” said former Germany coach Richard Prause. Ma Long was beaten by Germany’s Timo Boll in a tournament in Moscow last month.
“He was under pressure and has still not recovered from his injury,” said television commentator Dong Martin Wang.
Kazuhiro never allowed Ma Long, 21, to settle down creating fine angles with his backhand and quick attacks with his forehand to totally bemuse his rival.
Ma Long failed to make an impact with his trademark forehand drives which 25-year-old Kazuhiro returned with interest.
China beat Hong Kong in the women’s competition quarter-final 3-0 while Japan beat Germany 3-1. Congo Brazzaville beat Australia 3-0 and USA beat Brazil 3-0 in the women’s Intercontinental group while Nigeria beat Australia 3-1 in the men’s competition.
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