(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
With $300,000 on the line at the WTT Champions Series Event in Incheon Korea, most of the World’s top players were present. However, despite having World No. 2 Fan Zhendong, No. 4 Ma Long, No. 5 Felix Lebrun, and No. 6 Lin Yun-Ju, the Final was between Liang Jingkun (World No. 3) and Hugo Calderano (World No. 8).
For Calderano, he had a tight first round 3-2 win over Shunsuke Togame, swept past both Lebrun brothers (3-1 over Alexis and 3-0 over Felix), and had the upset of the tournament with a 4-2 win over Fan Zhendong in the Semifinals.
For Liang Jingkun, he needed all 5 games to top Anton Kallberg 3-2, topped Jorgic 3-1, fell behind Simon Gauzy 0-2 before recovering to win 3-2, and topped Ma Long 4-3 for his first win in a tour event over his teammate.
In the Final, it was all Jingkun, trading the first two games, but then winning easily in the final three games for the 4-1 victory. Jingkun continues to rise in the rankings – perhaps on a pace to challenge Fan Zhendong for World No. 2.
In Women’s Singles, Sun Yingsha topped Wang Manyu 4-0. In the Semis, Sun Yingsha defeated Wang Yidi 4-0, and Wang Manyu defeated Chen Meng 4-2, so the top four ladies in the world finished in order 1-4 in Incheon.
There are several WTT Feeder events in upcoming weeks, but the next major tour event is the 2 Million Dollar Saudi Smash that will begin on May 1.
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