Fan Zhendong thrillingly advanced to the quarterfinals of the WTT Finals, calling for the competition to be returned to the athletes
On January 3, in the WTT men's singles 1/8 finals, world No. 1 Fan Zhendong faced Slovakia's Joczyk, and after a thrilling five-game battle, Fan Zhendong finally won 3-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals.
In this men's finals, 6 national table tennis players were shortlisted for the top 16 of men's singles, namely Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin, Ma Long, Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong. On the first day of the competition, the first round of men's singles competition, 6 national table tennis players appeared in turn, and Liang Jingkun, who took the lead, withstood the pressure and defeated Lin Yunru 3-1, making a good start to the New Year for the national table tennis. Lin Shidong, a national table tennis player who participated in the finals for the first time, lost 2-3 to German player Qiu Dang after five rounds of competition and stopped in the first round.
Fan Zhendong is currently the number one main player of the national table tennis men's team, ranking first in the men's singles year-end world ranking for four consecutive years, and is also regarded by fans as the favorite to win the men's singles championship in the finals. Fan Zhendong made his WTT Doha men's final debut to be challenged by Slovakia's Joczyk. There have been two singles meetings in the past, the first of which was at the 2019 Austrian Open, when Fan Zhendong swept his opponent 4-0. The second head-to-head meeting was at the 2022 Macau Championship, when Fan won 3-0. In this campaign, Fan Zhendong was in a slow state and played extremely difficult in the whole game, but fortunately, Fan Zhendong withstood the pressure and defeated Joczyk 3-2 and advanced to the men's singles quarterfinals.
When Fan Zhendong reviewed the game after the game, he said that his state in the first game was a little slower, and the whole was normal in the back, the score was very tight, and he had been trying to find a way. The opponent hit a lot of the balls that came to mind today, and it put a lot of pressure on himself. "Actually, I had a chance in the fourth game, and there were a lot of match points. Sometimes I might hit a critical moment and suddenly there was a shout, which really affected the performance. Everyone sat very closely, and sometimes the cheering sound could be felt, but this rhythm still wanted to respect the rules of the arena. I hope that everyone will give the game back to the athletes, and let the athletes lead the game. Fan Zhendong said.
In the next round, Fan Zhendong will face Aruna, the first African brother, who won three games in a row after losing two games first, and reversed Hugo Calderano 3-2 to advance to the quarterfinals. "I didn't watch the opponent's game much, but he won the last three games by 2 points, and he did have combat effectiveness and quality, and I will definitely pay attention to it, hoping to play better." Fan Zhendong said.
Text/Beiqing Sports Zhou Xueshuai