Chih-Yuan Chuan, the Fast and Aggressive Chinese Taipei Champion

Chih-Yuan Chuan was born on April 2, 1981 and resides in Taipei. He possesses great footwork and could attack with force on both wings. He is currently ranked at 16 in the world and at 12 in Asia. In his native Chinese Taipei, he is the number one player. The highest world ranking held by him was at number 3 in the month of December in 2003. He played his best games between 2002 and 2005 but had somewhat slipped in the last 2 years. He was the Men’s singles finalist in 2002 Qatar ITTF Pro Tour and quarterfinalist in 2002 ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals. Chih-Yuan Chuan has played both in China and in Europe on several occasions. He is quite familiar with the various styles of Chinese players.

He has the speed play of the Chinese and also possesses the backhand attacking skills in which the Europeans are very good. His speed and aggressiveness had made him one of the best players in the recent past.

In September 2004, in the Men’s singles final at the Volkswagen Open held in Kobe, Japan, Chih-Yuan Chuan had China’s Chen Qi as his opponent. In all the 3 previous encounters, Chen Qi had defeated Chih-Yuan Chuan. A year earlier in 2003, Chen Qi beat Chih-Yuan Chuan in the quarter-finals in Singapore and in the semifinals in Sweden. Again in Singapore earlier in 2004, Chen Qi had dominated Chih-Yuan Chuan in the quarter-finals in a 7-game match.

Hence, it was widely anticipated that Chen Qi would repeat his performance in Kobe. As expected, Chen Qi won the first game 11-4. Chih-Yuan Chuan fought back in the second game but still lost it 8-11. Chen Qi was playing quite fast with consistent forehand topspin strokes with varying degrees of topspin and was dominating. He took the third game 11-4. However, Chih-Yuan Chuan started playing more positively and there was a turn in the tide. After a keen tussle, he took the fourth game at 12-10, when Chen Qi failed to take advantage of a match point position.

In the fifth, he raced to a 5-1 lead but Chen Qi managed to come back into the game to level at 6-all. Still, Chih-Yuan Chuan was feeling rejuvenated and won the game 11-6. In the sixth game, Chih-Yuan Chuan took risks by playing several outrageous strokes but they worked and he won the game 11-4. The deciding seventh game was a battle of wits, skill, and willpower. Both players fought with vigor but Chen Qi managed to outclass Chih-Yuan Chuan to take the game at 11-9 and win the match. That was the first ITTF Pro Tour Men’s singles title for Chen Qi and Chih-Yuan Chuan was forced to be content with the second place.

Racket maker Butterfly had created a blade in Chih-Yuan Chuan’s name, called Butterfly Chuan Chih Yuan – FL. This blade is a lightweight one that suits Chih-Yuan Chuan’s off-the-bounce looping style of play. This blade is especially suitable for fast attacking styles like that of Chih-Yuan Chuan, but is also effective for mid-distance defensive play.