by Ian Marshall, Editor

All aspiring players, no doubt originally motivated by the achievements of Jörg Rosskopf and Timo Boll in particular, on a day when there were no shortages of surprises, Meng Fanbo, Nils Hohmeier, Denis Klein and Cedric Meissner completed their group stage matches unbeaten and are thus through to the main draw.

Equally, Qiu Lang, required to compete in just one match on the opening day of action, emerged successful. He beat Chile’s Felipe Olivares, in three straight games (11-6, 11-6, 11-5).

Thus overall it was top marks for Germany, five players on duty, nine matches completed, success on each occasion; in fact if you are so minded it was 10 out of 10. Also from Germany, Kirill Fadeev received a walk-over in his scheduled opening match and was thus not required to raise his racket in combat.

Evidence

Now which member of the group is most likely to make a mark in Gliwice? Who is top of the class?

The evidence points to Cedric Meissner; alongside Meng Fanbo, Dennis Klein and Kirill Fadeev, he was on duty in Spain; he emerged the one member of the group to qualify for the main draw. It was at that stage he excelled. He beat Iran’s Nima Alamian and Spain’s Carlos Machado before eventually losing the Benedikt Duda.

Cedric Meissner is is 19 years old and is he progressing at just the right age?

He enjoyed success as a junior but never really hit the headlines. One year ago in March he was listed at no.769 on the men’s world rankings, he now stands exactly 500 places higher at no.269; that’s progress!

In Gliwice, once again he is through to the main draw; can he build on the Spanish success? The signs are positive.