WTT Qatar Doha Men's Finals, January 4, 2024 ushered in the men's singles quarterfinals, the Chinese table tennis team Fan Zhendong took the lead, and the opponent was Aruna, the first brother in Africa. After fierce competition, Fan Zhendong played well in this round, defeated Aruna in three straight games, and successfully advanced to the men's singles semifinals, and will face the winner of Ma Long VS Lin Gaoyuan in the semifinals.
Fan Zhendong 3-0 Aruna【11-6;11-9;11-4】
Match focus: Fan Zhendong's recent performance has been inconsistent, the progress of the game has been stumbling, and it is very difficult to win. Therefore, many fans are not optimistic about Fan Zhendong in this game, and some fans even attribute the instability to wearing a headband. Aruna has staged reversal dramas many times, and his stamina is also an important highlight of this game, but this time it was predicted by Fan Zhendong.
Profile: Fan Zhendong, ranked No. 1 in the world, is undoubtedly the top seed in the men's singles at the finals, and is now 26 years old and nine years younger than Aruna. Aruna is ranked 16th in the world and is a veteran table tennis player from Nigeria, who has occupied the position of the first brother in Africa for many years, and his comprehensive strength should not be underestimated. Aruna has won eight international titles, 24 fewer than Fan, and both are right-handed attacking players.
First round record: Both sides had a difficult first round of play, with both opponents battling for five games, and the road to promotion was difficult and tortuous. Fan Zhendong narrowly beat Slovenia's Darko Joczyk 3-2 to close a rollover, while Aruna handicap followed two to a 3-2 win over Brazil's Calderano.
Venue: Doha-Lusail Stadium
Record: This is the fifth singles meeting between the two sides in history, Fan Zhendong won 4-0 at the 2017 Swedish Open, Fan Zhendong won 4-0 at the 2019 World Championships in Hungary, and then Fan Zhendong won 4-1 at the 2019 German Open. At the 2023 WTT Stars Challenge Ljubljana, Fan Zhendong won 3-0. Therefore, Fan Zhendong won all the first 4 meetings between the two sides, winning 15 games and only losing 1 game, with an obvious advantage.
Game recap
At the beginning, Fan Zhendong took the lead in scoring, Aruna immediately equalized, and the two sides went back and forth to 3 draws, and then Fan Zhendong continued to score and suppress, rewriting the score to 6-4. After that, Fan Zhendong's continuous transfer worked, and Aruna continued to return the ball to wipe the net and lose points, so Fan Zhendong led to 9-5. After Aruna recovered one point, Fan Zhendong continued to mobilize the score, won the game point at 10-6, and won the first game 11-6.
In the second game, Fan Zhendong took a 3-0 lead, Aruna chased 2 points in a row, and then Fan Zhendong mobilized his opponent again to rewrite the score to a 6-3 lead. After that, Aruna continued to attack and take advantage of the score to 5-6, and then Fan Zhendong made a key twist and pull error, Aruna took advantage of the situation to chase 8 draws, and then pushed to 9 draws. After that, Fan Zhendong seized the opportunity to get the game point 10-9, and withstood the pressure to successfully win the second game 11-9.
In the fourth game, the score was alternated to 2 draws, and Fan Zhendong moved the senior ball to lead to 4-2, and then Fan Zhendong withstood the opponent's fight and rewrote the score to a 6-3 lead. After that, Aruna opted to pause the adjustment. After that, Fan Zhendong was well prepared and had sufficient prediction, won the match point at 10-4, and ended the game with 11-4.