Por CBTM
It was no disgrace; the opponents were of very high quality, namely MA Lin, Jean-Michel SAIVE and Kalinikos KREANGA.
In
On Tuesday 24th January 2005 he played the
In Liège he lost all three matches, in
"It was difficult yesterday in the first match", said Ahmed ALI SALEH who had beaten Miroslav HOREJSI in six games, having lost the first and fourth in the encounter.
"After that match I was much more confident", he continued. "It was the first time I'd played him so I really didn't know what to expect; most certainly in the first two games I had problems, I wasn't sure how to play him, what tactics to use, his forehand was very good."
The second contest, which was against Daniele SABATINO, like the first was won by Ahmed ALI SALEH in six games but it was a totally different match. "I won the first three games and I felt comfortable with the situation, perhaps I became too relaxed, maybe I lost a little concentration and he won the fourth and fifth games", explained Ahmed ALI SALEH. "After the fourth game it was close and I must admit that in the sixth game I thought I might lose."
Negative thoughts? Well, clearly he put those to the back of his mind, he won that sixth game and when play started again on the morning of Wednesday 25th January 2005 he was positive and showed his best form of the tournament so far. He beat Konstantinos PAPAGEORGUI of Greece in five games, the man who will of course be always remembered as the player who defeated Jan-Ove WALDNER in the first round of the Men's Singles event at the Liebherr World Championships in Paris in 2003.
"Against PAPAGEORGUI I lost the first game", explained Ahmed ALI SALEH. "The score line of four-one might sound easy but it most certainly wasn't, every game was close."
The Greek certainly made the Egyptian star fight for the right finish in first place in the group. "I'm reasonably pleased with my performance and I think I played better as the matches progressed", continued Ahmed ALI SALEH. "However, I've not played much table tennis since the Men's World Cup and I've had a month without playing at all."
Ahmed ALI SALEH lives in Cairo and there is a very good reason for his enforced rest from table tennis. "The weekend after the Liebherr Men's World Cup I got married", explained Ahmed ALI SALEH. "So, I've missed some training and it showed today that I need to be fitter."
Anyway, it would seem that married life is suiting Ahmed ALI SALEH and he has his eyes set firmly on the Liebherr 48th World Championships in Bremen in a few months time. "The Liebherr World Championships is the most important tournament of the year and our goal is to win our division", he said. "Promotion is our target, I'm not sure if I'll play in the ITTF Pro Tour tournaments in Qatar and Kuwait, the main task is to be ready for Bremen."
Bremen is in many ways the high spot of the year and judging by his efforts so far in Zagreb it would seem that Ahmed ALI SALEH is on target with his preparations and promotion for Egypt is most definitely a very realistic possibility.
