The inaugural WTT Singapore Grand Slam, with the tournament going on, is now in the final stage of the final stage of the men's singles!
The two athletes who entered the men's singles final can be said to be the two most powerful players in the men's table tennis in the world today, that is, Ma Long and Fan Zhendong!
For Ma Long and Fan Zhendong, everyone is very familiar with each other, the first time the two met in the competition was in the men's singles final of the 2013 National Games, when Ma Long fought fiercely in seven sets and defeated the 16-year-old Fan Zhendong with a score of 4-3!
Since then, the two have played each other in the competition many times, and in the men's singles final of last year's Tokyo Olympic Games, Ma Long once again defeated Fan Zhendong and won his second Olympic singles championship!
In the first set, Fan Zhendong started into a very fast state, continuously using the backhand twist to score, while Malone was a bit too wrong, Fan Zhendong quickly took a 9-3 lead.
Fan Zhendong was chased by Ma Long for two consecutive points after taking the first set point 10-4, but Fan Zhendong still won the first set with an 11-6 score.
In this game, Fan Zhendong entered the state faster, and at the same time, in the match with Ma Long, Fan Zhendong shot more resolutely.
In the second set, Malone was unable to pick up Fan Zhendong's serve, and Fan Zhendong took a 5-3 lead! Fan Zhendong's mentality today is very good, and he is very positive.
Although the score is behind, Malone will decisively attack as long as he has the opportunity.
Fan Zhendong's state is getting better and better, the shot is very resolute, and soon won the set point 10-4! But Malone once again saved two innings in a row.
Ma Longgao threw the ball, was picked up by Fan Zhendong to steal the ball to score, 11-6, Fan Zhendong won another set, the big score 2-0 lead!
In the first two innings, Fan Zhendong's ability and quality brought a very big threat to Malone, which seriously limited Malone's play!
In the third set, Malone strengthened the offensive strength of the first three boards at the beginning, and this tactical change made fan Zhendong difficult to adapt, and Malone took a 4-3 lead.
Fan Zhendong took the initiative to attack with consecutive forehands to chase the score to 4-5! But with a senseless mistake by Fan Zhendong, Malone led 6-4!
In the multi-shot matchmaking, Fan Zhendong's board was stronger than the other, but it was blocked by Ma Long one by one, and Ma Long still led 7-5! In this inning, Malone's serve has changed a lot, which also led to some concerns about Fan Zhendong's serve.
After a fierce battle, in the end, Malone won a set back with the same score of 11-6, and Fan Zhendong led 2-1!
In the fourth set, Malone started with a faster pace to take a 2-0 lead. At this time, for Fan Zhendong, he needs to adjust his mentality as soon as possible.
Once Fan Zhendong is in a hurry and there are more unnecessary mistakes, it is difficult to win the game against Ma Long!
Malone took advantage of the change of landing point and rotation to constantly mobilize Fan Zhendong, and Malone took a 4-1 lead! The competition between the two people on the first three boards is very fierce.
Comparatively speaking, Fan Zhendong's mistakes are still a bit much, and Malone maintained a slight lead of 7-5 in the middle of the game! But Fan Zhendong was not chaotic at all, and the continuous backhand twisting and pulling interrupted Ma Long's rhythm, and Fan Zhendong scored consecutive points, gradually chasing the score to 8-0!
Fan Zhendong scored another point, and the score came to 9 draws! The situation on the pitch was very anxious. Fan Zhendong's serve was a bit out, Malone decisively took the serve to grab the score, 10-9 to get the set point, with Malone's forehand attack score, Malone chased the big score to 2 draws with an 11-9 score.
In the fifth game, the two men started very fiercely, starting with 3 draws!
Fan Zhendong forced Malone to make mistakes by constantly mobilizing Malone's forehand, and Fan Zhendong took a 6-5 lead.
Not to be outdone, Malone also increased the intensity of his attack, gradually chasing the score to 6 draws! Malone once again stepped up the attack of the first three boards, scoring two consecutive points to win the score 8-6!
After Fan Zhendong recovered a point, Malone immediately called a timeout, and it can be seen that Malone is very eager to win this set!
The quality of Fan Zhendong's twisting back from the suspension was not too high, and he was killed by Ma Long's slap, and Ma Long got the set point 10-7! Fan Zhendong saved a set point, and with a side ball from Malone, Fan Zhendong lost another set 8-11.
After the first five innings, Malone won three consecutive sets with a 0-2 deficit to overtake the big score!
In the next three innings, Malone still surpassed Fan Zhendong in terms of adaptability, and the attack of the first three boards also made Fan Zhendong difficult to overcome!
In the sixth game, Malone was more powerful, and after winning the first point, Malone shouted to cheer himself up! At the beginning, Malone scored three consecutive points, and Fan Zhendong was forced to call a timeout!
At present, Fan Zhendong is a bit passive on the first three boards, which needs to be adjusted in time!
Pause to come back, Malone shot is still very determined, take another point! Malone leads 4-0!
Fan Zhendong was forced to add some quality under the pressure of the score, which led to more mistakes, and Malone became more and more courageous, 6-1 Malone led!
Fan Zhendong was unwilling to give up lightly, and tenaciously chased the score to 5-6, which was a few points, and Fan Zhendong shot more decisively. At this time, the game on the field was very fierce, and the fans kept shouting and cheering for the two!
Malone rotated the ball backwards, and Fan Zhendong misjudged. Malone scored another point!
In the handling of key points, Fan Zhendong did not give any mercy, and gradually overtook the score, 9-8, Fan Zhendong will surpass the score! Malone served, Fan Zhendong took the ball to score, and won the set point 10-8!
Fan Zhendong continued to use the backhand attack, after a multi-shot contest, Fan Zhendong won a set back with an 11-8 score, dragging the game into the decider!
In the decider, Fan Zhendong shot very decisively! The start took a 4-2 lead. Not to be outdone, Malone quickly trailed the score to 3-4.
Fan Zhendong's backhand twisting quality is relatively high, And Ma Long's backhand effort to win the initiative but there is a mistake, Fan Zhendong leads 5-3. The two sides change sides!
Malone's defense of the backhand position made a mistake, and Fan Zhendong led 6-3! Malone began to fight, but once again the fight was wrong, and Fan Zhendong led 8-4! But Malone quickly added quality to the shot, chasing two points in a row to make it 6-8!
Fan Zhendong continued to put pressure on Malone to win the match point 10-6! Malone saved a match point, 7-10! With the success of the pick-and-roll after the serve, Fan Zhendong won the game with an 11-7 score!
In this game, Fan Zhendong stubbornly pulled two consecutive sets in the case of falling behind 2-3 in a big score, and finally reversed Ma Long with a score of 4-3!
This game can be called the peak showdown, Ma Long and Fan Zhendong have been fighting wits and courage, whether leading or behind, they have always maintained their focus!
After the game, when Fan Zhendong was interviewed, his first words were: Please give applause to Ma Long!
Fan Zhendong said that the game with Ma Long was very difficult, and he did not dare to think that he could win Ma Long! Being able to defeat Malone is also a tribute to the predecessor Malone!