On the afternoon of January 4, Beijing time, the WTT Doha Men's Finals ended the competition for two men's singles 1/4 finals, and the national table tennis was happy and worried. Top seed Fan Zhendong met Nigerian veteran Aruna, and after five games in the last round, Fan Zhendong's form improved significantly, easily defeating Aruna 3-0 in straight games to advance to the men's singles semifinals. Another Chinese player, Liang Jingkun, lost 2-3 to Germany's Qiu Dang after a five-game battle, unfortunately missing the semifinals.
In the first men's singles quarterfinals, the top seed Fan Zhendong faced Aruna, the "first brother in Africa". In the previous first-round knockout round, both men went through five hard-fought rounds before defeating their respective opponents to advance hard. The two sides have played each other four times before, and Fan Zhendong has maintained an undefeated record of winning all four games and occupies an absolute advantage. Aruna is no idle person, he has beaten the top players in table tennis many times and has become a pioneer of African table tennis.
In this game, Fan Zhendong showed the spirit of a king, losing three straight games 11-6, 11-9 and 11-4, defeating Aruna 3-0 and taking the lead in advancing to the men's singles semifinals in the finals. In the semifinals, he will face the winner between Ma Long and Lin Gaoyuan.
In the second men's singles 1/4 finals, Liang Jingkun faced against Germany's Qiu Dang. The two have faced each other 2 times before, and Liang Jingkun has won both of them, and his overall strength is obviously superior.
In this campaign, Liang Jingkun did not hold on to his advantage when he was leading 2-1 in the total score, lost two games in a row, lost to Qiu Dang 2-3, and missed the men's singles semifinals. This is also Qiu Dang's second victory over Chinese players in a five-game battle after eliminating national table tennis player Lin Shidong in the first round of five games. Qiu Dang's semi-final opponent will be between Wang Chuqin and Zhang Benzhihe.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Zhou Xueshuai
Editor/Xu Zhao