(by Steve Hopkins)
Lin Yun-Ju entered the WTT Contender Series event in Almaty Kazakhstan as the top seed, and he did not disappoint. Even as other recognizable names including Ovtcharov, Jorgic, Franziska, and Lebrun all fell, Lin cruised through to the Semifinals. On Saturday, the Semifinal matchup was Truls Moregard – a tight match that Lin Yun-Ju won 3-2.
In the other half of the draw, Marcos Freitas continued his solid results, with a win over Jorgic to advance to the Semifinals. However, the 20 year old Chinese player waiting for Freitas, Xiang Peng, became the story of the tournament. World No. 46 dispensed with Freitas 3-1 to reach the Final. In the Final, Lin Yun-Ju dropped the first game, but then won four in a row to secure the 4-1 win.
Despite only having one player seeded in the top eight, Chinese players logged dominant results. China had 8 players in the draw (of 32), and only suffered two losses to non-Chinese players (both of those losses were to France’s Jia Nan Yuan who defeated Liu Weishan in the opening round, and defeated Chen Yi in the Round of 16). In the end, three Chinese players reached the Final 4, and the All-China Final went to Kuai Man over Fan Siqi 4-0.
China Won both Men’s and Women’s Doubles as well. Lin Shidong and Xu Yingbin won Men’s Doubles, and Chen Yi and Kuai Man won Women’s Doubles. Korea won Mixed Doubles with Cho Daeseong and Joo Cheonhui teaming up to claim the title.
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