On 18 January, the WTT Macau Championship was drawn by lot. The competition began on January 19 and ended on January 23, lasting five days, including men's singles, women's singles and mixed doubles. The scale of this event is not very large, there are only 16 people in the men's singles, 16 people in the women's singles, and 16 groups in the mixed doubles. Matches start in the quarterfinals.
In order to improve the excitement of the event, only 4 seeds are set for each individual event. Then the next 12 (pairs) players are decided by lottery. This increases the contingency of the game, and it is likely to stage a strong dialogue in advance to make the game more exciting. This was confirmed by the results of the subsequent draw.
For example, in the men's singles, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Xu Xin and Lin Gaoyuan are seed players, and the random draw is followed. Liang Jingkun, who was originally ranked fifth, directly drew Ma Long, who was second. The two were really crying and laughing, and they didn't know who it was. Xu Xin and Zhao Zihao can also be regarded as a strong dialogue. The overall strength of the upper half is a little weaker, and Fan Zhendong drew a top draw. There are more masters in the second half, and Ma Long, Xu Xin, and Wang Chuqin are all divided into the second half. Even if Ma Long wins Liang Jingkun, he may face Wang Chuqin in the next round. His signing was really poor.
Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu and Wang Yidi in the women's singles were the top four seeds. There were also a lot of strong conversations in the first round. Liu Shiwen, who was originally ranked fifth, met Wang Yidi, who ranked fourth, in the first round. The veteran encountered Wang Yidi, who has been in a very hot state recently, and Liu Shiwen is fierce and unlikely, and it is likely to be eliminated in the first round. Sixth-placed Du Kaixuan met chen Meng, who ranked first, and He Zhuojia, who ranked eighth, played second-place Sun Yingsha in the first round. In the past, He Zhuojia had caused a lot of trouble for Sun Yingsha. These three games are strong conversations, and they must be very good.
In the mixed doubles, Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha, Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen, Lin Gaoyuan/Wang Manyu, Lin Zhaoheng/Du Kaixuan were the top four seeds. Ma Long participated in the mixed doubles competition for the first time, and he and Qian Tianyi met the world table tennis champion Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha in the first round of the new mixed doubles championships. It can only be said that the dragon team's luck is too bad, a little back. The Dragons didn't do well in singles and mixed doubles.
Mixed doubles matches are inherently contingencies. There will also be a lot of unexpected results in this competition.
In this event, two coaches of the national table tennis did not come. One is Fan Zhendong's head coach Wang Hao. Wang Hao was unable to come to Macau because of problems with immigration procedures. For the same reason, Wang Hao also missed the World Cup match in Singapore. I don't know who will be Fan Zhendong's off-field coach this time.
Another coach who didn't go was Li Falcon. Li Falcon had to be absent for physical reasons. It is said that during the preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, the nearly 60-year-old coach Li Falcon suddenly had a heart problem and had to go to treatment. However, the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Houston World Table Tennis Championships are about to start, and the dedicated and patriotic Li Falcon will return to the team with illness and continue to coach the team members.
After playing the Houston World Table Tennis Championships, there were no important matches in the recent past, and Li Zhi applied to the team to go to the hospital for physical examination and rehabilitation. Before the competition, the team will not arrange for Li Falcon to return to the team, so that he can calm down and adjust his body. Therefore, Li Falcon also missed this event. I hope that Li Falcon will guide him to recover soon.
There is also a question of curiosity, who will serve as Sun Yingsha's off-site coach?