On April 28, Beijing time, the 2023 WTT Star Challenge continued. During the day on match day, the 1/4 final of the men's singles will be played.
In the first men's singles 1/4 final, National Table Tennis 00 player Yuan Licen played against South Korea's Zhao Shengmin.
Yuan Licen is a left-handed racket player ranked 32nd in the world.
Zhao Shengmin only ranked 59th in the world, but in the first two rounds, they were Xiang Peng and Lin Shidong, who defeated Guoping.
The two sides have met once before, and Cho Shengmin won.
In this game, after losing by 2 points in the first game, Yuan Licen regrouped and won three consecutive games, and finally reversed to win and "avenge" his teammates.
In the first game, Yuan Licen missed all four catches in the opening game, and the opponent could not catch his serve, 4-4.
At 6-6, Yuan Licen finally broke his opponent's serve, 7-6.
At 7-7, Yuan Licen was short and not of high quality, and was twisted by his opponent to score, 7-8.
At 8-8, Yuan Licen received the serve and twisted the middle, 9-8.
Cho Shengmin served and attacked sideways forehand, 9-9.
Yuan Licen suppressed his opponent's backhand and won the set point 10-9.
Yuan Licen was a little conservative, the ball was not pulled back in the half, hesitated to swing the net short, and the game point was equalized, 10-10.
After Zhao Shengmin sent a long backhand, he pulled a sideways forehand to win the set point 11-10.
Yuan Licen pendulum short is of high quality, 11-11.
Yuan Licen seized the opportunity to wipe the net, re-scored, and won the set point again at 12-11.
Both were direct errors on serve, 13-13.
Zhao Shengmin still served a backhand long ball, Yuan Licen still did not catch well, 14-13.
Yuan Licen also served a long backhand and scored a forehand attack, 14-14.
Zhao Shengmin still believed in his long-ball tactics and won the set again 15-14.
Yuan Licen made a long mistake and lost the first game 14-16.
In the second game, the two sides alternated the lead until 7-7.
Zhao Shengmin pulled back after serving a long ball, and was defended by Yuan Licen to a straight forehand.
This disrupted Cho Shengmin's mentality, causing him to make a direct mistake on his next serve.
Yuan Licen led 9-7.
Yuan Licen swings down the net, 9-8.
Yuan Licen was chased to 9-9.
The two sides played against each other, and Yuan Licen was a better skill and won the game point 10-9.
Yuan Licen made consecutive senseless mistakes in small ball handling, 10-11.
Yuan Licen catches the serve and swings short, 11-11.
Yuan Licen hit consecutive forehands to make it 12-11.
Zhao Shengmin backhand change straight line, 12-12.
In the end, Yuan Licen won back 14-12, and the score was 1:1.
Yuan Licen Dalu ball does not lose to the opponent, the key point even sent a short ball and the opponent to swing short, give the initiative to the opponent, I don't understand very well, expect the opponent to make a mistake?
In the third game, Yuan Licen strengthened his forehand.
Cho Shengmin was on the key point and made another serve error.
After 5-6, he scored three consecutive points to take an 8-6 lead.
Yuan Licen won the set point 10-7, and finally won another game 11-8, and the big score was 2:1.
In the fourth game, Yuan Licen had an advantage in both backhand and forehand.
Yuan Licen opened the bow left and right to take a 6-3 lead, and Zhao Shengmin had to ask for a timeout.
Coming back from a timeout, Yuan Licen won the set point 4-1 and directly won the set point 10-4, and finally won the last game easily 11-5, winning with a big score of 3::1 and advancing to the men's singles semifinals first.
Zhao Shengmin only has the fighting tactic of sending a long ball sideways and pulling back, there are not many methods, and the basic skills are not solid enough. It is that the first three boards are fought fiercely and scare people. Xiang Peng and Lin Shidong lost unjustly. If Zhao Shengmin really has strength, why is he still ranked outside the 50th place at the age of 24?
Many new-generation players of National Table Tennis lack self-confidence on the one hand, and on the other hand, their ability to read the game is insufficient, and they cannot discover the reality of the opponent in a short time, resulting in their over-tension and allowing the opponent to take advantage of it. In fact, with your own training level, you can fight your opponent at your own pace, and any technique is enough to beat your opponent.
Yuan Licen's opponent in the next round will be between Lin Gaoyuan and Pichford.
In a women's singles 1/4 final held earlier, South Korea's Chinese Zhu Qianxi defeated Japan's Miwa Chang Moto 3-2 to advance to the women's singles semifinals.