Place an advertisement for a Women’s Doubles partner and if Gao Jun replies then there is no need for an interview; give her the job, her curriculum vitae is good enough, no other potential applicant has a chance.

In Guangzhou at the Panasonic China Open with Shen Yanfei she faced a stern grilling on Sunday 17th September 2006 but as in the past she passed the test.

The combination of the United States and Spain emerged victorious.

Gao Jun and Shen Yanfei beat China’s Li Xiaoxia and Wang Nan at the final hurdle on Sunday 17th September 2006 to clinch gold; it was another title for the duo and another medal to add to Gao Jun’s collection. Gao Jun and Shen Yanfei won 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7.

Playing Style
Bronze medallist with Chen Zihe in the Women’s Doubles event at the World Championships in Dortmund in 1989, silver medallist in 1992 with the same player at the Barcelona Olympics, Gao Jun’s style of play is ideal for Women’s Doubles.

Right handed, penhold grip, short pimples, close to the table near the net she excels, in Women’s Doubles she creates openings for her partner and in Shen Yanfei she has a perfect foil.

Different
Shen Yanfei is left handed, a shakehands grip player who is slightly different; she uses short pimpled rubber on the forehand and reversed rubber on the backhand.

The two styles complement each other, Gao Jun is the `Architect’, Shen Yanfei is the `Killer’ and since they first joined forces in 2005 at the TMS Chinese Taipei Open, success has followed success.

Success
In their first appearance as a Women’s Doubles’ pair they won the title, they also won at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals at the end of the year. Meanwhile, at the Liebherr Swedish Open in 2005 they reached the semi-final stage, whilst at the Volkswagen Open Korea and the Volkswagen Open China they also progressed to the penultimate round before suffering defeat.

The understanding that has been achieved in a very short space of time is remarkable, whilst for the beaten finalists, Li Xiaoxia and Wang Nan it is a case of establishing an understanding.

New
“Wang Nan and Li Xiaoxia, they are a new pairing and I guess owing to lack of practice they didn’t do that well”, said Gao Jun. “It is not a case of how well we played, they didn’t play up to their level.” A very modest Gao Jun as always but you only play as well as you are allowed and the champions elect made life difficult for the Chinese duo.

“To play against Chinese players, we are under no pressure at all, we just fight and now the system is eleven point matches, it’s harder to predict what will happen”, continued Gao Jun “In the fourth game, we had a couple of lucky pints, that helped; so the combination of a not so good performance from our opponents and luck being on our side, helped us to win the match.”

Again, Gao Jun was extremely modest, both Shan Yanfei and Gao Jun played extremely well but the fact that it was the inaugural appearance of Li Xiaoxia and Wang Nan as a doubles pair on the ITTF Pro Tour, was a contributory fact in the end result.

Nerves
“It’s the first time I have partnered Wang Nan”, said Li Xiaoxia. “I’m a young player and I was a little nervous, I felt under pressure.” It was a daunting task, she was in harness with one of the legends of table tennis and of course she didn’t want to let her partner or country down.

“I had a really strong desire to win the gold medal with Wang Nan”, continued Li Xiaoxia. “Before the match I was full of confidence but perhaps I wasn’t fully prepared for the difficulties we faced in the match.”

Rhythm
Playing Gao Jun and Shen Yanfei is a difficult task, they stop their opponents establishing a rhythm and for Li Xiaoxia establishing a rhythm was difficult. “I didn’t perform to my level”, Li Xiaoxia continued. “I showed a lack of experience on how to handle the situation when we were in trouble.”

Li Xiaoxia will learn and she is better for the experience; as for Gao Jun, she abounds in experience and with Shen Yanfei once again stood proudly on the top step of the medal podium, more silverware had been added to the collection. Gao Jun and Shen Yanfei were the champions.