02 Mar 2010 8 Comments

Student OZA Day 1 Update

The reception for the World Student OZA is over, and competitions are looming tomorrow morning.  A few interesting facts revealed:

  • Artem Kachanovsky, the Ukrainian representative is Artem92, whose teaches as a 7 dan on KGS.
  • USA did originally have a participant in the student OZA, but could not make it due to visa reasons. Thus, he was replaced by  Garcia Emil of Mexico who had only a few days notice.
  • Jan Simara of Czech Republic could not make it due to sudden sickness, he is now replaced by a third participant from Japan.
  • Zhang Xiang of Singapore was second the three countries competition between Singapore, Malaysian and Thaialnd, and has a 5d account on KGS (Sodaharu).

It’ll be an honor to compete against such a stunning list of participants! A photo has been attached below:

From left to right:

Standing: Mile Gu, Ma XiaoLong, Yutae Seo, Taniguchi Yohe, Artem Kachanovsk, Gabriel Benmergui, Takunori Yamamoto, Lai Yuchen, Nuttakrit Taechaamnua, Zhang Xiang
Sitting:  Anna Prokov, Wang Zhuo, Lee Sunah, Lin Hongbin, Garcia Emil

The first round match-ups has also been decided by random lottery:

  1. Sekine Rieko (Japan) vs Anna Prokov (Czech Republic)
  2. Yutae Seo (Korea) vs Nuttakrit Taechaamnuay (Thailand)
  3. Taniguchi Yohei (Japan) vs Gabriel Benmergui (Argentina)
  4. Ma XiaoLong (China) vs  Artem Kachanovsk (Ukraine)
  5. Wang Zhuo (China) vs Zhang Xiang (Singapore)
  6. Lin Hongbin (Taiwan) vs Lee Sunah (Korea)
  7. Mile Gu (New Zealand) vs  Takunori Yamamoto (Japan)
  8. Lai Yuchen (Taiwan) vs Garcia Emil (Mexico)

Of these matches, China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan on the obvious favorites. Match 4 is interesting, is it probably pits Europeans top player here vs China’s top player, who is one of the more likely candidates to win the OZA. Nevertheless, you can’t expect a 7d KGS to go down without a fight :). Nuttakrit has also go quite a fearsome reputation, though unfortunately, he ends up being pitted as the Korean team… I wish him luck! Match 6 between the China and Korea’s female rep is probably the most balanced match this round, and it’ll be interesting to see who wins.

As for me? I’m playing against the Japanese Student OZA… of course I’ll win :). Well the aim is to play an exciting game! Matches start 11:30am Brisbane time today. I’m hoping for a good night sleep!

by Mile Gu in Analysis, Tournaments