In the case of losing one set first, hexagonal warriors Ma Long and Lin Yunru fought hard for five sets, and finally eliminated their opponents 3-2 to advance to the top 4, and will compete with teammate Liang Jingkun for a final spot.
Malone is now older, and with injuries on his body, he will not participate in all competitions, but selectively pick races to maintain his form and world rankings. After the Tokyo Olympics, Malone only competed in the National Games and then rested. This WTT Singapore Grand Slam Tournament not only gave the champion a high prize money, but also a lot of points, and It was time for Malone to go out of the mountain and all the masters.
In the 16-8 match, Malone also defeated teammate Wang Chuqin 3-2 to advance with the first loss of one set. The opponent in the quarterfinals is Lin Yunru, a taiwanese player with good strength. Lin Yunru is a player who has improved very quickly, only 21 years old this year, but the improvement of his skills is visible to the naked eye, and he is definitely the strongest opponent of national table tennis in the next five or even ten years.
In the 2019 World Cup third and fourth place finals, Lin Yunru defeated Ma Long 4-3. At the Tokyo Olympics, Lin Yunru also won a good result of 4th place. Ma Long is 34 years old, although technically not advanced, strength and speed may not be as good as Lin Yunru, but Ma Long has reached the realm of human ball unity, and the two laps of Grand Slam are not a fluke. I believe that Ma Long's match against Lin Yunru will be very exciting.
At the beginning of the first game, Lin Yunru took the lead in attacking, and his mentality was relatively open, and the pace was very fast. On the contrary, Ma Long seems to have entered the state relatively late, and there are more mistakes in holding the ball, giving Lin Yunru the opportunity to tear up his backhand many times. Lin Yunru played a 6-1 start, and although Malone then recovered a few points, he still lost the first set quickly 5-11 because the pit was too large in the early stage.
Could it be that after Xu Xin's upset and out, Ma Long is also going to lose? At the beginning of the second set, Malone showed his strong dominance, and Lin Yunru may have some ideas in his mind after winning the first set, and his playing style is not as free as in the first set. Between a positive and a negative, the situation on the field showed a one-sided situation, and Malone quickly returned Lin Yunru's set 11-6.
In the third set, Ma Long continued to control the rhythm of the game into his own hands, and in the face of Ma Long's movement, Lin Yunru did not know how to deal with it for a while. 11-4, Malone won another set.
In the fourth set, Lin Yunru felt that he could no longer follow the rhythm of Ma Long, and had to seek changes, and achieved good results and achieved the advantage of leading the opening game. Then Ma Long rose up to catch up and forced Lin Yunru to call a pause to ease Ma Long's momentum. After the 9-9 draw, Malone conceded two consecutive points to lose the fourth set 9-11.
In the decider, Malone executed the coach's tactical play and quickly received results. Lin Yunru obviously did not want to surrender and admit defeat, and still had a strong impact on Ma Long. In the end, It was Ma Long who was superior, winning 11-7 and facing Liang Jingkun in the semi-finals. After taking the last ball, Malone threw his fists and roared, after all, this game was really not easy.
In the interview after the game, Ma Long also praised Lin Yunru at all costs, and also said that he had lost Lin Yunru many times, and was very happy to give everyone a wonderful game today, and thanked the fans on the scene for cheering for him and Lin Yunru. Malone's gratitude also attracted a boiling of fans at the scene, which showed how much everyone liked him.