After 23 years, the national table tennis defeated Belgium 3-0 again to get off to a good start! Only Ma Lin is still in the team
On February 16, Beijing time, in the first round of the men's team at the 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese men's team easily defeated the Belgian team 3-0 in the first game and got off to a good start. Due to the accident of the national table tennis women's team against India in the morning, Sun Yingsha and Wang Yidi lost points one after another, and finally won a thrilling 3-2 reversal, which obviously sounded a wake-up call for the men's team, and the national table tennis men's team won relatively smoothly in the evening. The Belgian men's team was also a world powerhouse, and reached the men's team final at the 46th World Table Tennis Championships in 2001, and the two teams met again in the World Table Tennis Championships after 23 years.
23 years ago, the World Table Tennis Championships were held in Osaka, and in the semifinals of the men's team, the Chinese team miraculously reversed the South Korean team 3-2 with Liu Guozheng saving 7 match points to reach the final. At that time, the Belgian team, which had big and small Sever, upset the Swedish team 3-1.
In the final, the Chinese team first sent Ma Lin to face the opponent's Saive Jean-Michel, who lost the first game 18-21 and then achieved a comeback 21-7, 21-15. Liu Guozheng then played a 2-0 win over Sever, and Kong Linghui beat Burratanov 2-0 to seal the win for the Chinese team.
Now the Belgian men's team, the overall strength of the Chinese team is even more different. In the first set of singles, the men's singles world No. 1 Fan Zhendong faced the 31-year-old Cedric Nuitik, and the opponent did not pose any substantial threat to Xiaopang after three games.
Wang Chuqin, the world No. 2 in men's singles, faced Adrian Larsenforss, a 20-year-old young man who is now Belgian and ranked 85th in the world, in the second set of singles. The singles set experienced several electronic scoreboard failures along the way, the female referee interrupted the game several times, and the opponent played some counterattacks in the second game, but Wang Chuqin still won the game 3-0.
World No. 3 35-year-old veteran Malone faces Belgium's 27-year-old Martin Allegro, who is ranked 56th in the world. Allegro won the third game 12-10, but Malone still won 3-1.
China 3-0 Belgium
Fan Zhendong 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-6) Cedric Nuitik
Wang Chuqin 3-0 (11-8, 13-11, 11-4) Adrian Larsenfuss
Malone 3-1 (11-4, 11-7, 10-12, 11-7) Martin Allegro