The WTT Singapore Grand Slam ended successfully, and the finale was played between Fan Zhendong and Ma Long, the two fought hard for 7 sets, and Fan Zhendong won 4-3. Malone was reversed with a 6-1 lead in the sixth set, and Deng Yaping pointed out the reason for Fan Zhendong's victory.
At the Budapest World Table Tennis Championships 3 years ago, After winning the championship in singles, Ma Long said a sentence "The future belongs to Fan Zhendong". The future does belong to Fan Zhendong, but what fans want to ask is "Malone, when will you retire?"
If Ma Long does not retire, the future will not really belong to Fan Zhendong. After Fan Zhendong came out of his trough, he was a champion whenever there was a competition. However, in the final of the Tokyo Olympic Games, Fan Zhendong lost to Ma Long. Fans also asked "The future belongs to Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, when will you retire?"
In 2022, the 34-year-old Malone felt that he could still fight, so he participated in the high-point and well-funded WTT Singapore Grand Slam and advanced to the final.
In the other half of the district, Fan Zhendong also picked out all the opponents one by one, successfully advanced to the final, and once again ushered in a duel with Ma Long, who can laugh to the end?
As soon as the first game came up, Fan Zhendong gave us the feeling of being slightly nervous, and there was a thing that happened when he was about to serve and got the ball behind him. Fortunately, this did not affect Fan Zhendong's game, and formed a pressure on Malone, who soon took the lead 11-6.
In the second set, Fan Zhendong continued his fiery state, forming a continuous suppression of Ma Long, which was very strong in the quality of the veneer, and Ma Long was somewhat soft. Fan Zhendong won another set 11-6 with great ease.
After taking a 2-0 lead, the fans seemed to see the hope of Fan Zhendong winning the championship, but Fan Zhendong still did not dare to be careless, and the opponent was Ma Long after all. In the Olympic Games, didn't Fan Zhendong just take the lead and be reversed? In this Grand Slam match, the match against Wang Chuqin, Ma Long also staged a good reversal.
In the third set, Malone was obviously much more active in attack than in the first two sets, but in the first half of the set there seemed to be no way to break through Fan Zhendong's defense. After all, Malone is a player with comprehensive technology, outstanding characteristics and no shortcomings, and he quickly found a way to crack it, running on the field like a young man in his early 20s. 11-6, Malone pulled back a set!
In the fourth set, Malone continued to control the rhythm of the game and took a big lead. Unwillingly, Fan Zhendong scored 4 consecutive points to complete the counter-overtaking, and then it was Ma Long's turn to perform, 11-9, and then the next city, the two sides fought to a 2-2 draw.
In the fifth set, it was Ma Long who took the lead and Fan Zhendong became the catcher. After the score was chased to 7-8, Malone called a timeout. After the timeout returned, Malone scored 2 points in a row, and Fan Zhendong scored 1 point by relying on the serve to grab the attack. 10-8, Malone only needs to win one more point, and he can complete the reversal in the big score. With a side ball, Malone scored 11-8, leading 3-2 into the sixth inning.
At the beginning of the sixth inning, Ma Long was in a brave state, playing Fan Zhendong a 6-1 opening, seeing this situation, I believe many fans feel that Fan Zhendong's loss is a foregone conclusion, and it is estimated that many journalists have thought of the headline of Fan Zhendong's loss. However, after taking a 6-1 lead, Malone suddenly lost all state and was successfully equalized by Fan Zhendong. After the 6-6 draw, Malone only scored two points to lose the sixth set 8-11.
1-6 behind to complete the big reversal, so that Fan Zhendong's confidence is greatly increased, and his face is more confident than before, on the contrary, Malone appears to be weak. 11-7, Fan Zhendong successfully won the seventh set, thus defeating Ma Long 4-3 to win the championship!
After the game, some fans thought that Malone had begun to concede after taking a 6-1 lead, which personally did not think it was possible. Deng Yaping felt that in the back game, Ma Long could not play the previous quality, and he was not Fan Zhendong's opponent in the pair, largely because he was older and physically unable to keep up, so he had a significant decline in the quality of the ball in the next two sets. The two are 25 years old, a 34 year old, a difference of 9 years old, there must be a big difference in physical fitness, maybe Malone lost is lost in physical fitness, what do you think?