On the afternoon of March 9, 2022, the WTT Singapore Grand Slam held a draw ceremony for the men's and women's singles main matches, and the final lottery table was officially released, in which Ma Long faced a test and Liu Shiwen did not sign well. Details are as follows:
How about the WTT Grand Slam Men's and Women's Singles Signature Table?
After an intense lottery session, the women's singles took the lead in ending the lottery ceremony. Among the players who have attracted much attention, Sun Yingsha, Liu Shiwen, Feng Tianwei and Hayata Xina are in the same zone 1/4; Wang Manyu and Du Kaixuan are in zone 2/4; Ito, Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong are in the 3/4 zone; and Chen Meng, He Zhuojia, Zheng Yijing and Hitomi Sato are in the 4/4 zone.
In the men's side, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin were divided into zone 1/4; Lin Gaoyuan, Zhang Benzhihe and Bohr were in zone 2/4; Liang Jingkun and Simon were in zone 3/4; and Ma Long, Wang Chuqin, Lin Yunru, Lin Shidong and Li Shangsu were in zone 4/4.
Why is Malone facing a test?
According to the WTT Grand Slam men's singles signing table, in the first round of the main tournament, Malone will face Portugal's Ferretas, who is currently ranked 26th in the world. Based on the difference in strength between the two sides, as long as Malone plays normally to win, it will not be a problem. If Malone successfully defeats Feretas to advance to the second round, he will face the winner between Lee Sang-so and Aruna.
South Korea's Lee Sang-so, who is now ranked 21st in the world, has defeated ma Long, Zhang Jike and other national table tennis players in the competition, and Aruna, who is now ranked 11th in the world as the "first brother of African table tennis", has made a bold statement to defeat the Chinese players.
Suppose Malone goes all the way through the barrier and successfully defeats the winner between Aruna and Lee Sang-so. His next opponent, then, is likely to be world-ranked 13th-ranked national table tennis teammate Wang Chuqin, who beat Malone 3-1 in the men's singles quarter-finals of the 2022 WTT Macau Championships. It can be seen that it is not easy for Malone to break through from the 4/4 zone, after all, the strength of each potential opponent should not be underestimated.
Why is Liu Shiwen's signing not good?
Similar to Ma Long's signing situation, Liu Shiwen's signing situation is also not good. In the first round of the competition, Liu Shiwen played against the current world no. 10 Korean table tennis star Tian Zhixi, who had defeated Players such as Chen Meng and Ito Mimachi in the game, and his strength was evident. If Liu Shiwen succeeds in defeating Tian Zhixi, then she will face the winner between Shan Xiaona and Cui Xiaozhu.
Objectively speaking, Shan Xiaona, who is now ranked 27th in the world, and Cui Xiaozhu, who is now ranked 50th in the world, are not enough to pose a danger to Liu Shiwen. However, the biggest challenge Liu Shiwen faces in the 1/4 zone comes from teammate Sun Yingsha, who is now ranked first in the world. In this regard, many fans sighed and hoped that Liu Shiwen would enjoy the game to the fullest.
It is worth mentioning that compared with Liu Shiwen, the signing position of Ito Mimako, a sister of Japanese table tennis, is good, because the national table tennis players Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong, who are in the same 3/4 zone with her, unfortunately met in the first round. Finally, I would like to ask, where do you think Ma Long and Liu Shiwen can go? Welcome to the interactive communication below!
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