China heads the challenge for honours in the Women’s Singles event at the Austrian Open, the first Major Series tournament on the 2013 ITTF World Tour. Staged in the city of Wels, play commences on Wednesday 22nd January and concludes on Sunday 27th January.
Ding Ning is the top seed followed by compatriots Liu Shiwen, Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yan; it is a prodigious top four. Next in line is Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa followed by two more Chinese stars in the guise of Wu Yang and Guo Yue.
All are players who have risen to stardom in the present century and established themselves as world class players in their late teens or early twenties.
Early Thirties
However that is not the situation for the next on the list of seeds in Wels; Viktoria Pavlovich of Belarus is the no.8 seed and it would seem that just as the likes of Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Li Xiaoxia have progressed in their early twenties, so Viktoria Pavlovich has done the same in her early thirties.
Now 34 years old, after winning the Women’s Singles title at the European Championships in Ostrava in 2010, she has made consistent progress after not always enjoying the best of fortunes in the second half of the current century.
Surely that win in Ostrava was the moment that popped the cork on the champagne bottle; the winnings were measurable, the confidence boost immeasurable.
World Rankings
In May 2005 she was listed at a career high no.11 on the Women’s World Rankings, by February 2008 she had dropped to no.51.
Later in that year she won the Women’s Singles title at the Stag Belarus Open, she climbed the rankings and by January 2010 was listed at no.22.
Three years on, in January 2013, she occupies the no.15 spot on the Women’s World Rankings.
More Ups than Downs
It would not be correct to state that there has been unabated progress for Viktoria Pavlovich since securing the European title in 2010.
There have been ups and downs; that’s all part of sport but I would suggest there have been far more ups than downs.
Notable Successes
Notably, she regained her European title in 2012 when succeeding in Herning and thus joined a distinct group of players who have won that title twice. In 2011 in Liège, she finished in second place in the Europe Top 12 and in 2012 in Villeurbanne in third place.
Meanwhile, in 2012 at the Volkswagen Women’s World Cup she progressed to the quarter-final stage; whilst on the GAC GROUP ITTF World Tour she was a quarter-finalist in Kuwait and Shanghai, a semi-finalist in Bremen and Ekaterinburg.
Olympic Games
Fine performances but arguably it was in defeat in 2012 that Viktoria Pavlovich underlined her continued improvement.
At the London 2012 Olympic Games, she bowed out in the fourth round being beaten by Singapore’s Wang Yuegu.
Perhaps the Singaporean was not at her very best but being able to compete on the biggest stage of all is the mark of a quality player; furthermore, over the years Wang Yuegu has been known to destroy defenders. Against Viktoria Pavlovich she found life difficult; Wang Yuegu eventually recovered from a three games to one deficit to win a close seven games duel.
More than A Match
In that contest and throughout 2012, Viktoria Pavlovich displayed the fact that she was a match for all comers; trying to find a contest in the past 12 months in which she was overwhelmed is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
She underlined the fact that a female defender can succeed in the modern era, she endorsed that scenario by becoming ever more secure in defence and conversely improved her attacking play.
Splendid Attitude
Like Spain’s Shen Yanfei who is just slightly over one year younger, Viktoria Pavlovich proved that you can improve when the 30 years of age milestone has been passed if you work hard and possess the right attitude.
Viktoria Pavlovich work hards, Viktoria Pavlovich possesses the right attitude.
The Quest Starts
Undoubtedly, the year 2012 was a year of improvement for Viktoria Pavlovich, it was a year of progress; can that advancement continue in 2013?
The mission starts in Austria and it will be her 18th year of competing on the ITTF World Tour.
From Italy to Austria
She was present in the inaugural year making her debut at the Italian Open in Bolzano in 1996; the Austrian Open will be her 86th ITTF World Tour appearance.
