(by Steve Hopkins)
Entering the weekend with just four left in Frankfurt, we had already seen Lee Sang-su take out World No. 1 Fan, and Felix Lebrun fight through his quarter of the draw past both Lee and Dang Qiu. The other top seeds, Ma Long and Wang Chuqin were then joined by Lin Yu-Ju – and by seed, the expectation would be a World No. 2 versus World No. 3 Final. Frankfurt held another pair of upsets, however – both at the hands of Lin Yun-Ju.
The fireworks started on Saturday afternoon with Lin Yun-Ju fighting back from a 1-2 deficit to defeat World No. 2 Wang Chuqin 4-2. And on Sunday, Lin Yun-Ju faced off against Ma Long (who defeated a hot Felix Lebrun in their Semifinal) for the WTT Champions Frankfurt title. In the Final, Ma Long took the first game, but then it was all Lin – running off four straight wins to claim the title 4-1.
All three of China’s top players were present in Germany this week, and each fell in an upset. The stage is set for a very exciting WTT Final event in Doha in the first week of January.
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