BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-three year old Hao Shuai maintained Chinese pride when he won the men's singles title at the Croatian Open in Zagreb, the ITTF said on its website on Sunday.

In a tournament where top four Chinese male stars had all bowed out in round three, Hao S

Hao Shuai, the man who has previously come so close, succeeded at last for his first career ITTF Pro Tour men's singles title.

The rising Chinese star ended 2006 on a high note by winning the men's doubles at the Pro Tour Grand Finals in December together with Ma Long, the duo beating reigning Olympic champions Chen Qi and Ma Lin in a gripping seven games final.

In Zagreb, Hao Shuai has made the perfect start to 2007 and the player who so often has been the "Nearly Man", is the champion and a very creditable champion.

He was left out the Chinese team for the Asian Games in Doha following a sad memory at the 48th World Championships in 2005 in Shanghai where he led Michael Maze by three games to nil, held a string of match points, but failed to prevent the Dane from overturning the table.

The memory may still haunt him, but perhaps he can lay those ghosts to rests now after winning the men's singles title at an ITTF Pro Tour tournament, that arguably saw the strongest field ever assembled in the eleven year history of the competition.

It was the second time in a world ranking event that the two had met, with Samsonov winning the first in six games one year ago in the quarter-finals of the Croatian Open.

In 2007, the Chinese rising star won in six games to level the matters.

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