On December 10th, Beijing time, the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup will enter the final match, the focus of this day is undoubtedly the duel between China and South Korea, and China and South Korea are the only two teams that have maintained a full victory.
In the battle between China and Japan that ended on the evening of December 9, although the national table tennis won 8-5, the process still exposed a big problem, the first set of mixed doubles Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha, and the third set of men's singles Fan Zhendong all lost 2 points, which really surprised many people.
In fact, from the perspective of the competition system, the Shatou combination and Fan Zhendong each lost 2 points, which did not affect the final victory of the national table tennis team, and it cannot be said that they lost, but the process did expose a big problem!
In this mixed team World Cup, in the eight matches that have ended, the Shatou combination has played 6 of them, which is enough to demonstrate the intention of the national table tennis coaching staff.
That is to exercise their adaptability against unfamiliar combinations, and from the current point of view, the intention of the national table tennis coaching staff has indeed been achieved, and the Shatou combination does have certain problems at present, such as slow entry into the state, lack of concentration during the game, and so on.
As the world No. 1 in men's singles, it is indeed difficult to satisfy the national table tennis coaching staff and the Chinese people in terms of stability. In 2023, Fan Zhendong has lost many foreign battles, and on the evening of December 9, facing Tomokazu Zhangmoto, Fan Zhendong, who was fighting at home, let his opponent play a 3-11 in the first game, which was indeed unexpected.
At the end of the first game and the pause in the middle of the second game, Wang Hao, the head coach of the national table tennis men's team, did not play any role, so that the Chinese people were full of worries about the national table tennis men's team led by Wang Hao to compete in the Paris Olympics!
However, it should be pointed out that this tournament only has 3 games per set, and this event cannot be used as a measure of the Olympic Games, because the competition system is completely different, and the Olympic Games are 7 rounds and 4 wins, which is very beneficial to the players with the overall strength and greatly reduces the upset.
Back to the battle between China and Japan on December 9th, after the first three sets, the national table tennis team led only one game 5-4, if it weren't for the second set Wang Manyu swept Hina Hayada 3-0, the situation of the national table tennis team at that time was indeed very dangerous, which is enough to prove the success of this competition system, making the game more interesting, and highlighting the importance of arranging troops.
At 7:30 p.m. on December 10, the battle between China and South Korea for the championship was held, and how the two teams lined up was very worthy of the attention of the outside world! You must know that the South Korean team has sent different lineups in the last two games.
Especially in the battle with the Japanese team, the mixed doubles enabled the lineup of Lee Sang-so/Tian Zhixi, women's singles Kim Na-young, and men's singles Zhang Yuzhen, and the first three sets did not let Shin Yubin and Lin Zhongxun play, such a change of formation directly disrupted the rhythm of the Japanese team, and finally the South Korean team beat the Japanese team 8-4, and the process of victory was obviously much easier than that of national table tennis.
Therefore, in tonight's Sino-Korean battle, how the two teams arrange their formations is very important! After the thrilling battle with the Japanese team, the final decisive battle between the national table tennis team and the South Korean team must be a hearty victory and show its hegemony in our home stadium!
In this way, for the Paris Olympics to hone the lineup, I am afraid that it will not appear again in the final battle, so far the mixed doubles in the first set should not be sent to Shatou combination, I predict that there is a high probability of sending Lin Gaoyuan/Wang Manyu combination, Wang Manyu is in full swing recently, and the "perfect combination" also has strong strength.
In this way, Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin can be liberated, they will most likely appear as singles, and it is entirely possible to get the Korean team in the first three sets with such a lineup of national table tennis!
You must know that the men's and women's doubles of the Korean team have very strong strength, in the latest world rankings, Shin Yubin/Tian Zhixi ranked first in the women's doubles world, and Lin Zhongxun/Zhang Yuzhen is also ranked second in the men's doubles world, so being dragged into the fourth or even fifth set by the Korean team is the last thing the national table tennis team wants to see. To sum up, it is very likely that the national table tennis will end the battle in three sets!
It is worth mentioning that the trophy of this mixed team World Cup is newly designed, because the neck of the trophy is engraved with the names of ITTF President Ms. Sorin and WTT World Table Tennis Federation Board Chairman Liu Guoliang, so the trophy is called "Guoliang Sorin Cup"!
On the night of the championship on the evening of December 10th, there will definitely be many surprises, such as once the national table tennis wins the championship, will the captain Ma Long lift the trophy? Will the event select MVP athletes? In the final group photo of the national table tennis team, will Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, who have not announced their retirement, appear?
Finally, I hope that the national table tennis players will have a better performance in the battle against the South Korean team, and defend our national football hegemony with a hearty victory, and come on national table tennis!