On April 26, the 2023 WTT Star Challenge Bangkok continued.
The men's singles 1/16 final ushered in a highlight match: Zhou Qihao against Lin Zhongxun. Zhou Qihao was also the last national table tennis player to appear on the match day.
Lim Chung-hoon is 26 years old and rises to 11th in the world ranking. Zhou Qihao is also 26 years old and ranked 42nd in the world.
As we all know, the world ranking is good for the non-main players of national table tennis, because non-main players of national table tennis do not have the opportunity to participate in high-point events such as Grand Slam tournaments and championship matches. Therefore, it is difficult to compare the points with the main players of foreign associations.
Zhou Qihao has good physical fitness and high quality of veneers, in Yan An's words: he is no worse than Fan Zhendong in every technique, but together he is not as good as Fan Zhendong. It should still be not stable enough. When he played well, for example, in the 2021 "Direct WTT Grand Slam World Table Tennis Championships" and Olympic Simulation Tournament, he defeated Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and other main players in a row to finally win the men's singles championship.
And Lin Zhongxun's skills have improved significantly since he defeated Wang Chuqin in the Asian Cup last year and finally won the Asian Cup runner-up. His world ranking also surpassed teammate Jang Yujin, becoming the "new brother" of the South Korean men's team in the Paris Olympic cycle. In this month's Xinxiang Championship, Lin Zhongxun defeated Zhang Benzhihe and Alex Lebrun, and forced Fan Zhendong to a tiebreaker.
The two sides had only met once before, and Zhou Qihao won.
In this match, both sides experienced ups and downs, Zhou Qihao twice trailed twice to equalize the score, and won five sets to advance to the round of 16 of men's singles.
In the first game, Zhou Qihao started slowly, was stunned by his opponent's strong hair extensions and backhand, trailed 0-5, and then the point difference was widened, 3-9.
Of Zhou Qihao's first three points, only one point came from his own active backhand quick tear score, and the other two points came from the opponent's mistakes.
Zhou Qihao received the serve to give the opponent the opportunity to get a backhand, and the opportunity to take the initiative to attack was also a mistake to send points.
Lim won the first set 11-5.
Zhou Qihao's first three boards are too much of a loss, what about your violent twisting?
In the second game, Zhou Qihao started unfavorably, trailing 2-5, and then started chasing points.
Zhou Qihao scored three consecutive points, 5-5.
Lin Zhongxun kept changing serves, 7-5.
Zhou Qihao scored points with multiple shots in a row, and won the score 8-7.
Lin Zhongxun won the set point 10-9.
Zhou Qihao received the serve and twisted, Lin Zhongxun counter-pulled error, 10-10.
Zhou Qihao won consecutive sets 11-10, 12-11.
Zhou Qihao requested a suspension.
Lin Zhongxun served to the forehand small triangle, Zhou Qihao lightly pulled on the stage with a forehand, Lin Zhongxun made a mistake in the counter-pull, and finally Zhou Qihao won back 13-11, the big score was 1:1.
In the third game, Zhou Qihao played too hard, there was no transition board, there were too many mistakes, and he always wanted to score on a board.
Although it started 0-3, it was chased for 2 points and kept making mistakes.
Lin Zhongxun won the set point 10-4 and won another game 11-6, leading 2:1.
In the fourth game, Zhou Qihao had excellent psychological quality, fell behind the big score, and dared to play "flower work". There are many mistakes with Lin Zhongxun, but Zhou Qihao can score when he puts a high ball.
Zhou Qihao scored three consecutive points after 2-3 to take a 5-3 lead.
Zhou Qihao maintained the lead until the end, taking the set point 10-7 and winning the game 11-7, chasing the big score to 2:2.
Zhou Qihao disrupted the rhythm of the opponent's game by swinging short, side cutting and other changes, and gradually regained his feeling.
In the tiebreaker, Lin Zhongxun started 1-3 behind and had to ask for a timeout.
After the two sides held each other for many shots, Lin Zhongxun touched his back, suspected of discomfort.
Lam's backhand attack was not as high quality as in the first game, and Zhou Qihao gradually adapted to the rhythm of his opponent and was able to counterattack.
Zhou Qihao extended his lead, 7-2.
Lin Zhongxun burst into a long ball, Zhou Qihao could react in time, backhand quickly tore up the angle to score, Zhou Qihao won the match point 10-4, and finally won the last game 11-4, thus winning 3:2.
The 7 national table tennis players who participated in the men's singles 1/16 final, all the matches were over, and they achieved a record of 6 wins and 1 loss. Previously, Xu Yingbin defeated Zhang Benzhihe 3-1, Yuan Licen defeated Ahn Jae-hyun 3-1, Lin Shidong kept a clean sheet 3-0 Hayasuke Togami, Lin Gaoyuan 3-1 Tomislav Pukar, Liang Jingkun beat Nanasekaran 3-0, and only Xiang Peng lost 2-3 to Zhao Shengmin.
Zhou Qihao's opponent in the next round is Germany's Duda.