Beijing time on March 13, WTT Singapore Grand Slam men's singles round of 16 continued, the national table tennis ace Malone vs Nigerian player Aruna's game attention is very high, after Malone in the 32nd round of Marlon 3-1 defeated the Portuguese player Freitas, after the game Yan An commented that Malone's state has not yet recovered, against Freitas lost a round can only be regarded as a pass, so this second game is a key battle to test whether Malone's state is restored, from the game point of view, the Dragons still have not fully recovered, In the end, it was a 3-1 win (the fourth set was too thrilling to change the score of 11-9 at 10-10).
Malone's opponent in this match, Aruna, is an African brother, and in last year's WTT World Cup, Aruna beat national table tennis player Liang Jingkun 3-1. He also met Malone in the men's singles quarter-finals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but the Dragons swept Aruna 4-0 in that game, but Aruna also became the first African athlete to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games, a game of revenge for Aruna.
The 33-year-old Dragons are Full Slam players, currently ranked second in the world after Fan Zhendong, the first innings of this game were won by the dragons of the two teams quite easily, 11-4 quick victory, the opening completed a 6-1, both felt that the Dragons would easily win this game, the second set Aruna powered, the second set Aruna returned malone a 4-0, and then Aruna won the second set 11-5.
In the third set, the Dragons went on their way again, taking a 3-2 lead at the beginning, then 5-2, then 7-4, and finally Malone won 11-6 in the third set, and Malone led 2-1.
The fourth set was dramatic, the two played from 8-8 to 9-9, then 10-10, but after the referee's decision Malone's return was a side, so the score was rewritten from 10-10 to 11-9, Malone finally beat Aruna 3-1, the game was thrilling, Malone almost equalized.
Malone said in an interview after the game: I hope I can play for a few more years, how to turn pressure into motivation before the game is very important, and I am grateful to the fans for their support.
Text/Yan Xiaobai