On March 19, Beijing time, the men's singles semifinals of the WTT Singapore Grand Slam Tournament kicked off. Today's two matches are Fan Zhendong against Japan's 20-year-old Yukiya Utada and Ma Long against teammate Liang Jingkun.
The first to be played was the contest between Fan Yudong and Yukiya Utada. The two played each other in a singles match for the first time, and in yesterday's men's doubles match, Fan Zhendong partnered Wang Chuqin against Yukiya Utada/ Hayabusa Tokami, and finally defeated the opponent 3-1 to win the men's doubles title.
In the first half of the game, Yukiya Utada ran actively and shot aggressively and quickly, starting with a 4-1, 5-2 lead. But as the game progressed, Fan Zhendong gradually adapted to the rhythm of his opponents. Chased 4 points in a row to win 6-5. As the game progressed, Fan Zhendong's thicker technical and tactical ability was demonstrated, opening the score gap 9-6 and winning the first set 11-9.
In the second set, after winning the first set, Fan Zhendong was more determined. And Utada Yukiya's serve is also very characteristic, so that Fan Zhendong is not adaptable enough for a while, coupled with the opponent's fight, the two sides began to fight 5 draws. After 5 draws, Yukiya Utada still insisted on the fighting tactics, scoring four consecutive points, leading the score 9-5, taking the set point first at 10-5, and pulling back a set at 11-7. In this round, Fan Zhendong exposed a certain problem in the serve link, because the opponent's serve rotation was not very certain, the quality of the serve was a bit reduced, giving the opponent the opportunity to play.
In the third set, Yukiya Utada's play on the first three boards brought some pressure to Fan Zhendong. Fan Zhendong used speed and quality to limit the opponent's space to fight, leading the score at a 6-1 start. Faced with a five-point gap, Yukiya Utada still insisted on pulling back, chasing three points in a row to chase the score to 4-6. But Fan Zhendong played more proactively after the middle game, taking the set point 10-6 and winning 11-7, leading 2-1.
In the fourth set, Utada Yukiya still insisted on fighting at the beginning, but the fight was also a double-edged sword. Fan Zhendong quickly reversed the score to 5-3 after falling behind at the start of 1-3. In the second half, Fan Zhendong gradually took control of the situation on the court, and Utada Yukiya's mistakes increased, leading by 3 points at 8-5. Yukiya Utada then seized on the attack of the first three boards to chase the scores to 7-8, 8-9. At this moment, Fan Zhendong applied for a suspension. During the suspension, Yukiya Umada's men's doubles partner Hayabusa Toue served as his off-field coach. After the timeout, Fan Zhendong made a mistake in returning the ball, and the two sides fought to a 9-draw draw. Subsequently, Fan Zhendongfa made a mistake in receiving a delivery, and Yukiya Utada reversed 10-9 to get the set point. But at the critical moment, Yukiya Utada's psychology also fluctuated, and the scores of the two sides alternately rose to 10 draws and 11 draws... In the end, Fan Zhendong won 16-14, leading 3-1.
In the fifth set, both sides scored at the start of their respective service rounds, drawing 2-2. After 4 draws, Yukiya Utada shot with great speed, making Fan Zhendong react slowly for a while, leading 6-4, 7-5. With Fan Zhendong chasing the score to 7-8, Yukiya Utada applied for a timeout. Yukiya Utada also needs to improve the delicacy of her technique. After the suspension, Fan Zhendong showed his strength in the stalemate and equalized the score. But at the end of the set, Fan Zhendong still lost 11-13. After 10 draws, Fan Zhendong was still slightly conservative in the forehand short link. Yukiya Utada trailed the score to 2-3.
In the sixth set, Yukiya Utada took advantage of the chase to lead the scoring 5-0 in the opening. Fan Zhendong actively adjusted in the case of falling behind in the score, chasing 7 points in a row, and reversed the score 7-5. In the case of falling behind, Fan Zhendong played more proactively in the process of stalemate and enhanced the change. In the end, Fan Zhendong won 11-9 and successfully advanced to the final with a score of 4-2. Due to its world ranking first, coupled with the points of this competition, according to the selection criteria of the National Table Tennis Asian Games, Fan Zhendong has locked the men's singles qualification for the 2022 Asian Games in advance. And in the final, it will face the winner between Ma Long and Liang Jingkun.