(by Steve Hopkins)
After Ma Long was upset early (a 4-2 loss to Xu Chenhao), the other 2/3 of their Olympic Team finished China’s Olympic Simulation exactly as expected. Fan Zhendong (World No.1) and Xu Xin (World No.2) advanced to the Final, where Fan topped Xu is a tight 4-3 victory.
The more interesting result came on the Women’s side where 22 year old Wang Manyu topped the field to finish first. Wang Manyu is No. 4 in the World (and third in China), but she was passed over for the Olympics – and will be an alternate only. Perhaps that was the extra motivation that she needed to dominate this event just 6 weeks before the Olympics begin.
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