Gao Jun Ranked #9 In The World

As of February, 2007, Gao Jun, a member of the USA Table Tennis National Team, is now ranked as the # 9 Women’s Single player and the # 8 Women’s Doubles player in the world.  Gao successfully competed in two ITTF Pro Tour Tournaments in January in Croatia and Slovenia. Gao made it to the Croatian Open semi-finals, having defeated world ranked players, #4, Li Jia Wei and # 8, Gao Jan.  The comments made by the ITTF Press about Gao Jun’s playing style are worth noting:

…Gao Jun is simply an enigma, her style of play is from a bygone era. She is not powerful, she’s not grease lightening and doesn’t impart massive degrees of topspin on the table tennis ball as would seem to be the requirement demanded by many coaches in order to be a top class table tennis player.

Penhold grip, short pimples, using one side of the racket only her control over a table tennis ball mesmerizes adversaries; close to the net, blocking, creating angles, being tactically astute are the facets of her game. She proves that there is more than one way to play table tennis and against Li Jai Wei, she endorsed that fact in an emphatic style.

Gao was defeated in the Women’s Single semi-finals by the # 5 world ranked player from China, Guo Yue. In the Women’s Doubles, playing with her partner from Singapore, Shan Xia Na, Gao and Shan upset the outstanding Chinese pair, Guo Yan, # 3 in the world, and Zhang Yining, #1 in the world.  In the Slovenian Open, Gao made it to the quarter-finals where she was pitted once again against, Zhang Yining.   This meeting had Gao losing to Zhang in 4 straight matches.  Based on her ITTF rating as of January 1^st, 2007, Gao now automatically qualifies as a USA Table Tennis National Team member for the Rio Pan American Games in July.