On March 18, Beijing time, the 2023 WTT Singapore Grand Slam ended the eighth matchday of the main event.
On this match day, the semifinals of men's and women's singles, as well as the finals of men's and women's doubles, were held, and the champions and runners-up of men's and women's doubles and the finalists of men's and women's singles were determined.
Of the 6 matches on that match day, there were 4 "civil wars" and 2 foreign battles, and both foreign warring countries table tennis players won.
Men's doubles final: Fan Zhendong/Wang Chuqin 3-1 Zhang Yuzhen/Lin Zhongxun, 4 sets: 9-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-4
Facing the strong South Korean men's doubles pair Jang Yujin/Lim Joong-hoon, Fan Zhendong/Wang Chuqin won three consecutive games to reverse the championship after losing one game first.
Women's doubles final: Wang Manyu/Sun Yingsha 3-2 Chen Meng/Wang Yidi, 5-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-4, 13-11
Also reversing the title was the women's doubles final, defending champions Sun Yingsha/Wang Manyu, who faced the onslaught from teammates Chen Meng/Wang Yidi, and after losing two games first, Jedi counterattacked, winning three consecutive games to achieve a super reversal; The tiebreaker was won 13-11 after being tied by four match points. The game was full of twists and turns, and it was very exciting.
Women's singles semifinals: Qian Tianyi 4-1 Zhang Rui, five-set scores: 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5
Qian Tianyi is in excellent condition, and has a strong desire to win, occupying the absolute initiative on the field. Facing Qian Tianyi's return ball with an arc, Zhang Rui seemed helpless.
If it weren't for Qian Tianyi's blind fast attack when he led 8-4 in the second game, eager to win this game, resulting in a loss of 6 points in a row, Qian Tianyi would have a high probability of keeping a clean sheet.
Qian Tianyi really "went black to the end", directly reaching the women's singles final from a wild card player.
Women's singles semifinals: Sun Yingsha 4-0 Wang Manyu, four sets scores: 11-4, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8
The two were previously evenly matched, the outside battle was 7-7, and a single game was generally six sets, but I didn't expect this semifinal to be a one-sided situation, which was a bit surprising.
Wang Manyu could not keep up with Sun Yingsha's speed, and the high-quality veneers were nowhere to be seen, so he could only passively defend, and finally lost four consecutive games.
Men's doubles semifinals: Fan Zhendong 4-1 Wang Chuqin, five-set scores: 11-6, 13-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5.
In this game, Fan Zhendong played the world's first demeanor, and truly achieved "both rigidity and softness". There is a violent attack, but also a challenge to the feel of the swing short and light pull, and even the forehand small triangle light pull directly brushes the edge to score.
Facing the bursting Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin could not break through, the attack could not penetrate, the defense could not be defended, and he could only strengthen the fight in the first three boards and barely win the first game. And it was Wang Chuqin who won the game 11-9, and was chased back by Fan Zhendong for 4 points, forcing Wang Chuqin to take a timeout to score the last point.
It can't be said that Wang Chuqin didn't play well, but Fan Zhendong was simply like a divine help.
Men's doubles semifinals: Malone 4-1 Hugo, five-set scores: 11-6, 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8
Everyone is very concerned about this game, not because it is an external battle and they are afraid that Malone will lose, but to see if Malone will continue to keep clean sheets. Marlon's recent state is terrifying.
However, Hugo was not bad, when he was 0-3 down and 5-8 in the fourth game, he broke the cauldron and scored 6 points in one breath, and snatched a game from Malone Abruptly, which was not easy.
Hugo does have considerable strength, and with a little loosening of Malone's control, he can keep breaking through from Malone's forehand to score points.
Of course, the current Malone is not as harsh on himself as before, and he must keep a clean sheet. The entire game was basically within Malone's control, except for a short period of time in the second half of the fourth inning, Malone could also allow himself to take a nap.
As of March 18, National Table Tennis has confirmed that it has won all five championships, of which three championships such as mixed doubles, men's doubles and women's doubles have been "famous flowers", and the final places of men's and women's singles have also been taken by National Table Ping.
Mixed doubles champion: Sun Yingsha/Wang Chuqin
Runner-up: Tomokazu Changmoto/Hina Hayada
Men's doubles champion: Fan Zhendong/Wang Chuqin
Runner-up: Zhang Yuzhen/Lin Zhongxun
Women's doubles champion: Sun Yingsha/Wang Manyu
Runner-up: Chen Meng/Wang Yidi
Seeing that the results of the national table tennis are so stable, those netizens who blame the coach for losing one or two games can rest.
On March 19, the final two matches will be played: the men's singles final and the women's singles final.
Women's singles final
19:00 Sun Yingsha VS Qian Tianyi
In the women's singles final, before the start of the competition, everyone can think that Sun Yingsha has a high probability of advancing to the final, because Sun Yingsha gradually has signs of evolving from the "little devil" to the "big devil". Foreign wars are not lost, and civil wars are rarely lost.
And to say who can advance to the final in the lower half of the women's singles, everyone starts to guess Chen Meng or Wang Yidi. As they were out, everyone guessed that it was likely to be Chen Xingtong, and as a result, Chen Xingtong was also eliminated. Then everyone is difficult to guess anymore, feeling that everyone else has a chance, and everyone who guesses is suspected of "poisoned milk". Unexpectedly, it was Qian Tianyi who finally killed the siege. She has defeated many foreign association masters in a row, including Mimato Ito, so it is well deserved that she advanced to the final.
Whether it is hard power or world ranking, Sun Yingsha has a great advantage over Qian Tianyi. However, this year's Singapore Grand Slam is unpopular, the game is not over, everything is possible.
Men's singles final
20:00 Fan Zhendong VS Ma Long
Seeing the amazing performance of Fan Zhendong and Ma Long in the semifinals, I am really looking forward to the final matchup between the two of them.
Although in the men's singles final of the "Direct to Durban" National Table Tennis World Table Tennis Championships Selection Tournament in February, Fan Zhendong lost 0-3 to Ma Long, but neither of them was in the best condition at that time, and Ma Long's desire to win was stronger at that time, and the last victory won the championship.
The 2023 Singapore Grand Slam singles champion has 2,000 points and $100,000, and when it comes to world rankings and wallets, no one will joke and will definitely give it their all.
From the first round of the main round to the final, the competitive state of the two sides continued to rise, and I believe that the final will be a peak duel of "Mars hitting the earth".
Let's wait and see!
Who do you think will win the women's singles championship? Who can win the men's singles title?