Lin Chen, a new Junior table tennis force

Lin Chen is currently ranked 179 in the world of table tennis. However, this is to be expected since the 17-year old is still playing in the junior circuits. Till August 2005, Lin Chen’s ranking was above 200. However, he had been able to stay below 200 after that in a consistent fashion. At present, Lin Chen is ranked fifth in the under 18 junior rankings in the world. In the last 2 years, Lin Chen had been within the first 10 places. In the under 21 group, he is ranked twenty-second. In 2005 Asian Youth Championships ATTU-Juniors held in New Delhi, India, Lin Chen won the boys’ title. In the finals, Lin Chen was facing compatriot Liu Miao but never allowed Liu Miao to take any liberties. He took the match 11-7, 13-11, 11-8, and 11-6, overcoming his less experienced opponent in a match in which there were no long rallies.

Earlier, he had advanced to the semifinals in 2004 World Junior Championships in Kobe, Japan and to the quarterfinals in 2004 World Junior Circuit. However, in 2006, Lin Chen emerged as the winner at the 2006 World Junior Circuit Championships at Edmonton, Canada and at the 2006 World Junior Circuit Championships held at Taiyuan, China.

In the Canadian Junior Open, Lin Chen overcame Liu Miao in a thrilling 6-game match. Lin Chen took the first 2 games at 11-7 and 11-8. However, Liu Miao fought back to win the next 2 games at 11-3 and 12-10. But there was no stopping the topspin forehand of Lin Chen and he went on to take the fifth and sixth games at 11-3 and 11-5 to crown himself as the champion at the ITTF WJC Canadian Junior Open.

In the 2006 ITTF WJC Taiyuan Junior Open, Lin Chen’s opponent in the finals was his compatriot Xu Xin. Lin Chen started in a hesitant fashion, losing the first game 9-11 to Xu Xin. However, he started dominating after that and won the next 3 games 11-6, 11-9, and 11-9. Xu Xin managed to snatch the fifth game at 11-9. But the fight was over when Lin Chen took the sixth game at 11-8 and became the champion. The forehand topspin attack of Lin Chen once again prevailed.

In October 2006, in the Boys’ Singles event of the ITTF World Junior Circuit held at Vrsac, Serbia, Lin Chen lost to Chiang Hung-Chieh of Chinese Taipei in a 5-game match. Chiang Hung-Chieh knew that the left-handed Lin Chen has got a very strong forehand topspin stroke. The heavy topspin that he is able to generate had brought him lot of success in the recent times. In the previous 2 encounters, both had won a match each. Hence, it was important for Chiang Hung-Chieh that he prevents Lin Chen from launching into his favorite topspin strokes. Chiang Hung-Chieh did just that, playing with lot of control and returning the serves well. Finally, Lin Chen lost the match 9-11, 5-11, 11-9, 8-11, and 6-11.