On March 19, Beijing time, the semi-finals of the WTT Singapore Grand Slam men's singles began. In a Sino-Japanese showdown, world number one Fan Zhendong defeated Japanese dark horse Yukiya Utada 4-2 after a bitter battle. In this campaign, Fan Zhendong encountered a huge challenge in the 4th set, but in the end it was difficult to win 16-14, and finally won the 7 consecutive points in the sixth set. In this way, the national table tennis locked the men's singles championship in advance.
Fan Zhendong is currently ranked first in the world, while Yukiya Utada is only ranked 49th, and there is a certain gap between the two. However, Utada Yukiya is in a very good state of this competition, and has eliminated famous players such as Liao Zhenju, Boer, lin Zhongxun, etc., which can be said to be the biggest dark horse in this event. In this game against Fan Zhendong, Utada Yukiya played very well.
In the first game, Yukiya Utada played a strong impact, and Fan Zhendong and Fan Zhendong clenched the score. However, in the key points, Fan Zhendong was even better, winning the first set 11-9. In the second set, Yukiya Utada still played very actively and remained dominant in this set, pulling back a set 11-7. In the third set, Fan Zhendong returned to Yukiya Una to take an 11-7 lead, taking a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set, the two sides fought very fiercely, and the two fought all the way from 10 to 14 draws, and also squandered the set points. However, in the last minute, Fan Zhendong won the fourth set with a lucky ball and led 3-1. In the fifth set, the two sides began with a sticky match, and after the middle set Yukiya Utada scored consecutive points to lead 8-5. But Fan Zhendong did not give up, and then chased to 10 draws. But at key moments, Yukiya Utada scored consecutive points to win 13-11. In the sixth set, Yukiya Utada started with a morale 5-0, but Fan Zhendong then scored seven consecutive points. After 9 draws, Fan Zhendong did not give another chance. In the end, Fan Zhendong won 4-2.
Since the other semi-final was played between Ma Long and Liang Jingkun, the national table tennis also locked in the championship of the men's singles event in advance. Prior to this, the national table tennis has won the mixed doubles and men's doubles championships, and the women's singles event has locked in the championship in advance. At present, there is only suspense left for the women's doubles champion, Wang Manyu / Sun Yingsha will play against Hayata Hina / Ito Mimachi.