On April 29, the 2023 WTT Star Challenge entered its final matchday in Bangkok.
The first match was the women's singles final: Chen Xingtong, the main player of national table tennis, faced South Korea's Zhu Qianxi.
Zhu Qianxi's performance in the international arena this year is outstanding, even in the face of strong opponents, often losing first and then winning, and winning in reverse.
In the main draw of the Singapore Grand Slam tournament, Zhu Qianxi swept Jimin Young 3-0, defeated To Kai-hyun 3-0, and defeated Yoshijun Ishikawa 3-1, facing Sun Yingsha after losing the first game, forcing Sun Yingsha to the decider.
In this Star Challenge, Zhu Qianxi defeated Liu Xinyin 3-2, beat Chen Siyu 3-0, Chen Yi 3-1, Zhang Benmeihe 3-2, and Miyu Nagasaki 3-1 to advance to the women's singles final.
Chen Xingtong faced a lot of challenges in the mixed doubles final and women's singles semifinals last night, first defeating the South Korean pair of Lim Joong-hoon / Shin Yubin in three consecutive sets to win the mixed doubles title, and then being forced to a tiebreaker by Diaz before finally advancing to the women's singles final.
In this game, Chen Xingtong quickly entered the game and only lost 2 points in the first game; Although Zhu Qianxi then served a strong counterattack, in the end, Chen Xingtong still relied on stronger strength, solved the battle in five sets, and the women's singles champion of the Bangkok Star Challenge, which was also Chen Xingtong's second title of this tournament.
In the first game, Chen Xingtong held multiple shots to lock the middle and backhand, and Zhu Qianxi made consecutive mistakes with a quick backhand.
Chen Xingtong started perfectly, leading 6-0.
Zhu Qianxi backhanded and turned to forehand to attack and get the first point.
Zhu Qianxi served to grab the attack, Chen Xingtong defense turned back, 8-2.
Zhu Qianxi made a forehand mistake, 2-9.
After Chen Xingtong won the set point 10-2, Zhu Qianxi made a mistake on serve and gave Chen Xingtong the last point, and finally Chen Xingtong easily won the first set 11-2.
However, Chen Xingtong don't relax, Zhu Qianxi habitually "shows weakness" in the first game, playing a pig and eating a tiger, so Chen Xingtong still has to cheer, the seven-game four-win game, the back is the key.
Sure enough, in the second game, both sides had fully mobilized themselves and shouted every point scored.
Zhu Qianxi stepped up her forehand to take a 5-3 lead.
Chen Xingtong is more passive, has not been able to tie the score, the quality of the return ball is not high, Zhu Qianxi can always change the line first.
After 7-6, Zhu Qianxi scored three consecutive points to win the game point 10-6.
Chen Xingtong served and picked up the net, and Zhu Qianxi won back 11-6, the big score was 1:1.
Chen Xingtong is sometimes too "lazy", too lazy to use his brain, knowing that he can't win if he can't change so much, he is still unwilling to make changes, and he is willing to change only after losing a game.
In the third game, Chen Xingtong scored both times in the middle of the transfer forehand, or desperately fought with his opponent for a backhand, for fear of what would happen if he used too much forehand.
The two sides alternated leads, and Chen Xingtong finally got the hang of it after 4-5, scoring three consecutive points to lead 7-5.
Zhu Qianxi took the serve and twisted, scored consecutive points, and tied the score, 8-8.
Zhu Qianxi fell to the ground after serving, 9-8.
Chen Xingtong holds the middle forehand, 9-9.
Chen Xingtong changed the landing point of the serve, first to the forehand position, then rubbed the length to the bottom line of the backhand, scored 2 consecutive points, won another game 11-9, and led 2:1.
Obviously, the forehand attack scored more, but Chen Xingtong was reluctant to use more. The backhand is too even, and the opponent adds quality first, resulting in the loss of points.
In the fourth game, Chen Xingtong's serve quality was too low, and he was continuously attacked by Zhu Qianxi's serve.
Chen Xingtong lost three points in a row and was overtaken by his opponent 5-4.
Chen Xingtong's backhand is concentrated in the middle of the backhand position, 6-5.
Chen Xingtong backhand turned forehand attacking error, 6-6.
Chen Xingtong blocked Zhu Qianxi's consecutive attacks with a forehand and backhand, and scored with a straight backhand, 7-6.
Chen Xingtong returned the ball with a backhand and went down the net after retiring from the table, 7-7.
The two sides again reached a stalemate of 9-9.
Zhu Qianxi returned the ball conservatively, and Chen Xingtong scored with a forehand to win the set point 10-9.
Chen Xingtong did not add strength first, and was scored by Zhu Qianxi's backhand to a forehand at a large angle, 10-10.
After being saved by Zhu Qianxi for the second set point, the two sides held each other with forehands and backhands, and Zhu Qianxi won the set point 12-11.
Zhu Qianxi made a mistake on serve, 12-12.
After Zhu Qianxi won the set point again 13-12, the South Korean team requested a timeout.
Chen Xingtong scored consecutive forehands to make it 13-13.
Chen Xingtong backhand changed straight lines, and won the set point for the third time at 14-13.
The two sides held each other for many shots, Chen Xingtong held on, and finally won the crucial game 15-13, leading 3:1.
Chen Xingtong in the fifth game, as long as he is not conservative, he will make a decisive shot and win no problem.
Chen Xingtong started badly, trailing 3-0. Then scored three straight points, 3-3.
Chen Xingtong's forehand attack was defended back, 3-4.
Chen Xingtong decisively used a forehand and scored consecutive attacks, 5-4.
Zhu Qianxi did not score a single point on his serve in this round, and Chen Xingtong led 6-4.
Zhu Qianxi swung the net short and trailed 4-8.
Chen Xingtong carried Zhu Qianxi's forehand straight and led 9-4.
Zhu Qianxi served and fought with a backhand, 5-9.
Chen Xingtong requested a suspension.
Chen Xingtong counterattacked and added force first, causing Zhu Qianxi to return the ball and go into the net.
In the end, Chen Xingtong won the last game 11-5, winning 4:1 to win the women's singles championship.
At the end of this competition, Chen Xingtong will receive 600 points and will return to the top five in the world; Runner-up Zhu Qianxi will score 420 points, and next week the world ranking will be close to 20th, and will surpass Shin Yubin to become the highest-ranked player of the South Korean women's team.
Chen Xingtong will later partner with Qu Man to compete for the women's doubles title, expecting her to realize her "triple crown" wish.