What can you say about consistency? A lot, as it turns out. Take Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." After that crippling blow, came the coup de grâce from Oscar Wilde: "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." Ouch. It should really come as no surprise, though, that creative types tend to take a dim view of consistency, at least outwardly. While many wish to present the image of bohemian rebels living on the edge, struck with divine lightning bolts by admiring muses, anyone who has actually created any sort of enduring body of work has done so following Stephen King's observation: "Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work." So it is for Germany's Qiu Dang. The 23-year-old penholder, ranked #52 in the world, has been a fixture at the Düsseldorf Masters tournament series this summer. He has reached the semifinal round in each of the weekly tilts, and twice reached the final, earning him first place in the race to the August playoffs. Entering the seventh contest this weekend, however, one facet of his consistency had surely haunted him. For all his hard work, he had yet to win the blasted thing. The Düsseldorf VII saw top seed Omar Assar fall to Tobias Hippler in the quarterfinals. Hippler, Qiu Dang's German teammate, then fell to world #57 Anton Kallberg of Sweden in the semis, setting up a duel with the #2 seed Qiu in the finals. Kallberg, 22, demonstrates a complete modern European shakehand game, looping capably from both wings and surprisingly comfortable on defense. Qiu, for his part, showed the versatility of the modern penhold game, ripping down-the-line loop winners with his reverse penhold backhand. Kallberg could not find a safe side to place the ball, because there was none. Qiu Dang maintained steady pressure the whole match, forcing Kallberg to push himself beyond his present capabilities. In the end, Qiu claimed his first title with a convincing (11-8, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5) scoreline. "I am happy to have won my first title at the Masters," said Qiu. "I will definitely take a break next week." With 50 points for the win, Qiu can sit on his 170 points without risking the lead. Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who has not even competed since week three, is in second place with 110 points. "Anton didn't play so well today, so I deserved to win," he added, matter-of-factly. "Unfortunately I didn't stand a chance today," agreed Kallberg. "He played very safe and I made a lot of easy mistakes. He really deserved the victory and was just too good today." Perhaps there is something to be said for consistency, after all. Problematic filmmaker Woody Allen alluded to it when he said, "Eighty percent of success is showing up." The other twenty percent, however, has something to do with tenacity. While others may have quit trying after so many tantalizing brushes with glory, Qiu Dang simply laced up and went back to work. While consistency may never be fashionable among self-appointed creative authorities, none has yet managed to produce a functional substitute. For the final word on the matter, we turn to football coach Jim Tressel: "The hallmark of excellence, the test of greatness, is consistency."

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