The 2022 JOOLA LA Open took place over the weekend, bringing back an iconic table tennis tournament to the US calendar. A top field of players attended from around the country, with many hoping to get a high caliber warm-up ahead of the 2022 US Open which begins on the 16th.
Third seeded Ma Jinbao was the star of the show as the tournament progressed, having made a strong impression at the recent 2022 JOOLA North American Team Table Tennis Championships where he had defeated both Wang Wei and Kou Lei in the team semifinal.
The standard of play and stakes were high as the players competed for the $10,000usd grand prize. Only one player would advance from the group stage into the main draw, which saw some of the top seeds fall at the first hurdle.
Tao Wenzhang, Zhang Kai and Tian Ye all exited the draw in the group stage, showing the strength of the field even across the second seeded players in the qualifications.
The top 6 seeds prevailed and marched into the main draw, a step closer to the crown.
Ma Jinbao quickly stamped his mark on the draw, overcoming Poland’s Daniel Gorak 4-1, winning four games in a row after dropping the first.
In the semifinal he would face his most exhausting match, a full seven game stretch against US Olympian Zhou Xin. The match was an intense back and forth with both players exhibiting an outstanding level of technical precision and tactical prowess.
Zhou fought to stay in the match, narrowly winning game 6, 11-9, to stay in the fight. In the seventh both players stepped up the heat to try and race over the finish line first, it was a spectacle for the audience and Ma would eventually bring the match home and advance into the final.
This setup a rematch with Kou Lei, who had comfortably overcome defender Wang Wei in his semifinal.
The final saw Kou Lei take the early lead, pushing out to hold a 2-1 advantage. His half-long openings were razor sharp and gave him the perfect opportunity to take the initiative in a large portion of the points on both serve and receive.
Ma began to turn the tables as he levelled at 2-2 and didn’t look back. His footwork speed was a huge factor, finding forehands at every opportunity. He was devastating close to the table, snapping through his shots with brilliant accuracy and stacking the pressure on Kou in the rallies.
While the games were close, Ma Jinbao started to pull away. Kou’s attempts to lock Jinbao up in the corner on serve receive paid no dividends as his younger opponent continued to step around at lightning speed, taking advantage of many of the long serve receives of Kou.
11-10 and with a 3-2 lead, Ma Jinbao dropped the final curtain on the match and cemented his place at the top of the podium.
Any exceptional match to round off the 2022 JOOLA LA Open, congratulations to Ma Jinbao!
