(by Steve Hopkins)
The China National Games is played every four years – a massive multi-sport event that has table tennis as one of the featured events. This year, the event was held in Macao – and it included not just World No. 1 Wang Chuqin and World No. 2 Lin Shidong, but also Fan Zhendong who is the defending Olympic Champion but is currently unranked and not playing on the tour.
In the Quarterfinals of Men’s Singles, Wang Chuqin outlasted Lin Gaoyuan. Fan Zhendong then defeated Sun Zheng. That set up a Semifinal between World No. 1 Wang Chuqin, and an unranked former World No. 1 Fan Zhendong. In the other half of the draw, Yuan Licen topped Zhou Kai and then World No. 2 Lin Shidong topped Zhao Zihao.
Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong was the match of the tournament thus far. Chuqin won the first and third games and Zhendong won the second and fourth. The fifth game broke the pattern with Zhendong reaching 5 first (5-2) and then really turned up the pressure a notch working very hard with his footwork to to set up big forehands and push the pace. Zhendong dominated the second half of the game and took the 3-2 lead when he won that game 11-5.
Picking up the action in what turned out to be the decisive game (Game 6). Chuqin won the first four points. Fan then totally turned the tables and ran off 6 in a row. Chuqin pressed Zhendong’s backhand, and Zhendong didn’t step away from that challenge – hitting big backhand after big backhand. In fact, at this point in the game, Zhendong chose to return short serves with his backhand and played balls in the middle with his backhand. It was also backhand winner at 10-7 that ended the game – Zhendong taking a ball to his middle off of the bounce and pulling it deep to the right corner – well beyond the reach of lefthanded Chuqin’s forehand. The celebration was muted – Zhendong had a fist but no loud yelling or jumping on the table. For his part, Chuqin walked to shake hands shaking his head. And the crowd chanted cheers of Fan Zhendong ! Fan Zhendong! which echoed in the arena for several minutes as officials prepared center court for the next match.
Yuan Licen and Lin Shidong were the other Semifinal match and it lacked the intensity of the earlier Semifinal. The two traded the first two games, but Lin Shidong outclassed his opponent from that point forward. Shidong won game three 11-4. The two played tight early in the fourth game, tied at 6-6 and 8-8, but Shidong closed the game by playing safe points – giving up speed to focus on control and topspin. Shidong won 11-8 to take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead. In the fifth game, Shidong turned up the intensity and won the first five points on his way to an easy 11-7 win – taking the match 4-1.
The Men’s Final will be played on Saturday.
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