The 2022 WTT Macau Championship entered its second matchday, and after several eye-popping and passionate singles matches, the evening match ushered in a mixed doubles focus battle. Former world number one Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen made their debuts in the mixed doubles event in Macau, and their opponents are the younger generation of Xu Yingbin and Liu Weishan. In the end, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen showed their superior strength, defeated their opponents in three straight sets, and successfully advanced to the next round. This Macau match is the second time that Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen play together after the Shaanxi National Games. However, this time the competitors can be described as fierce, and the overall strength far exceeds that of the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Shaanxi National Games.
World Champion Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, and world champion groups Lin Gaoyuan and Wang Manyu will be the biggest threat to Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen's competition for the title. Entering the Paris cycle, it can be seen from the lineup of the national table tennis coaching team and the list of participants that Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, two veterans, have not been eligible for the next Olympic Games, and Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, Lin Gaoyuan and Wang Manyu will be the team's key training objects in the mixed doubles event. This Macau tournament is the first match of Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen in the new season, and the two have decided that they will not retire early and will continue their table tennis careers.
This time, the two have joined forces again to compete in mixed doubles, with personal partner feelings and team building needs. After the lottery grouping, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen were divided into the second half of the zone, and they would not meet the top favourites Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin before the final. But in the half of the district where they are, there are also Lin Gaoyuan and Wang Manyu, a strong pair, in order to reach the final and win the championship, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen need to play with the combination of "Shatou" and "Yuanman" one by one. Judging from the evaluation of the outside world, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen's call for winning the championship is not as good as that of Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin. In the first round of the match, facing the young players Xu Yingbin and Liu Weishan, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen played firmly and decisively.
Although they have not practiced together for a long time, the foundation of the two's previous cooperation is still there, and they finally succeeded in winning the opening. In addition to the mixed doubles event, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen also played Kai in the singles competition. Liu Shiwen showed her good competitive state in the competition with Wang Yidi, she solved the battle in four sets and entered the women's singles quarterfinals with her head held high. Xu Xin laughed to the end in the "straight duel" with teammate Zhao Zihao and advanced to the men's singles quarterfinals. Being able to win both singles and mixed doubles events is not easy for Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen.
In the previous World Table Tennis Championships, they did not participate, and they were away from the field for a long time, which added a lot of uncertainty to their journey to the Macao Tournament. From the perspective of strength, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen have a greater difficulty in the singles event, and the two are focusing more on the mixed doubles project. Some fans believe that the probability of Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen winning the mixed doubles championship is very small, and even the difficulty of the semi-final may be difficult for both of them to overcome. Even if they reach the championship and runner-up finals, it is difficult for them to compete with Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, who are in a state of great success. One pair is the 2019 World Championship winner and the other is the 2021 World Championship winner, who do you support?
(Luo Treasurer)