Niu Nipped European Defender in Fourth Round

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, May 24, 2003

Niu Nipped European Defender in Fourth Round

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Defensive players cause many a playeruntold problems with their consistent retrieving and sporadic quick attacks but in the women's singles fourth round at the world championships Viktoria Pavlovich of Belarus met their match in the guise of Niu Jianfeng of China.

"Chinese defensive players tend also to have a very good attack," said Niu. "Pavlovich does not attack as much as the backspin players from China, so you don't need to be so aggressive when youare playing against her, you can return the ball higher, there's not quite so much pressure on you but you must keep concentrating,you must remained focused."

Niu concentrated mainly on consistent forehand topspins interspersed with a drop shot and a fast attack as the situation demanded; however, on some occasions she would use a backhand topspin and when executed "down-the-line" to the right hander's forehand it proved to be a match winner.

Niu said: "The right hander stands towards the backhand side ofthe table, so if you play a fast backhand to the forehand you usually get a weak return and can catch your opponent off balance."

It was a tactic that proved most successful and playing in a large arena seemed to have little adverse effect on a highly focused Niu.

"It's quite difficult playing against defenders in a such a bighall, the ball travels slower and they have more time to get into position to make a good return," she said. "Equally, playing in a hall with a court mat can make the conditions a little slower and now that we use a larger ball, the ball spins less, so it's not that easy."

Niu now plays her compatriot Li Ju in the quarter-finals in a match that will be a contest between two fine attacking players.

"There's no pressure on me in this match, we are both from China, so whatever the result it will be a Chinese player in the semi-final.

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