3-2 narrowly defeated! China defeated South Korea and took the lead in entering the final of the team World Table Tennis Championships, striving for 11 consecutive championships

On February 24, Beijing time, the 2024 ITTF Busan World Table Tennis Championships team competition entered the men's team semifinals, and the Chinese men's team played against the South Korean men's team.

The players of the Chinese team are Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin, and Ma Long, while the South Korean team playing at home is Zhang Yuzhen, Lim Zhongxun, and Lee Sang-so.

Wang Chuqin faced Zhang Yuzhen, who was in excellent form, and failed to hold on to lose the first set; the South Korean team used Lee Sang-so to challenge Ma Long, and his tactical intention was achieved, winning the crucial third set; fortunately, Fan Zhendong was in good shape, defeating Lin Zhongxun and Lee Sang-so 3-0 successively; and Wang Chuqin successfully won the last point in the deciding set. In the end, the Chinese team advanced to the men's team final with a score of 3-2.

First set: Wang Chuqin 1-3 Zhang Yuzhen

Scores in four games: 7-11, 11-2, 11-13, 6-11.

In this game, Zhang Yuzhen's condition is really good, she has strength in her forehand, and she can withstand her backhand.

Wang Chuqin was slow at the beginning, giving the initiative to his opponent and losing a game first. In the second game, he easily pulled one back. The crucial third game was lost by 2 points. In the fourth game, Zhang Yuzhen took a 5-1 lead, Wang Chuqin saw that he was about to approach the score, but the opponent continued to wipe the net and score, and his mentality was about to be collapsed, and he lost 6-11 in the end.

Second set: Fan Zhendong 3-0 Lin Zhongxun

Scores in three sets: 11-8, 11-6, 11-8.

Facing the loss of his teammates in the first set, Fan Zhendong, who appeared in the second set, was not affected, and was on the line almost the whole time. And Lin Zhongxun, who has always been good at fighting, may have exerted too much force and made too many mistakes.

Fan Zhendong started 3-0, was chased to 7-7 in the game, withstood the opponent's counterattack at the end of the game, and won the first game 11-8. The second game started 2-0, but lost 3 points in a row after 5-3, and then Fan Zhendong immediately returned a wave of 6-0 and won 11-6. In the third game, Fan Zhendong started 3-0, a little too anxious in the game, wanted to pass a board, and made many mistakes, resulting in the score being overtaken 4-5, but at this time it was Lin Zhongxun who was more anxious, he fell behind 0-2 and wanted to pull back a game earlier, but he was disobedient and beat to send points faster, Fan Zhendong got the handicap 10-6, and finally locked the victory with 11-8.

Third set: Ma Long 2-3 Lee Sang-so

五局比分：6-11，11-4，10-12，11-6，4-11。

As conjectured before the game, the South Korean team's "three singles" chose Lee Sang-so. Although his previous record against Malone was 1-7, he did pose a certain threat.

Malone is a 35-year-old veteran with a well-rounded skill and a wealth of experience. But in fact, Lee Sang-so is also 33 years old, with a hard ball style, high quality boards, and very strong in retreating. Ma Long's focus is to control the opponent's initiative and try to avoid falling into a hard-hitting situation in the middle and far Taiwan.

Ma Long had a bad start of the first game 1-4, although he tried to chase down a 5-5 draw, but he failed to grasp his own service round, and his backhand was down, and Lee Sang-so won the first game 11-6. In the second game, Ma Long pulled the opponent into the competition for the short ball in the table, not allowing the opponent to have the opportunity to take the initiative, and quickly pulled back a city with 11-4. After Ma Long led 7-3 in the third game, he was strongly counterattacked by his opponent, and finally reversed 10-12 and lost a crucial game when he got the game point first at 10-9. Malone was still a little anxious to win at the end of the game, and the continuous long ball was a bit too aggressive.

In the fourth game, Malone took the initiative to slow down and received a yellow card for this, but effectively curbed the opponent's play. After 3-3, Malone quietly scored 6 points in a row, and finally pulled back a city 11-6. Ma Long returned the ball to reduce his strength, and Lee Sang-so couldn't borrow his strength, and he made many mistakes on his initiative. In the deciding game, Lee Sang-so played simply and directly, sent long balls to fight, and after 2-3, he played a wave of 9-1 scoring, and finally sealed the victory with 11-4.

Fourth set: # 3-0 Zhang Yuzhen

Scores in three sets: 11-6, 11-7, 12-10.

This is a contest between two "one-single" players. Previously, Fan Zhendong maintained a "seven-game winning streak" against Zhang Yuzhen.

Zhang Yuzhen's current state has dropped significantly compared to the first set against Wang Chuqin. He had been yelling at every point he had won, but this game was very quiet, and he was in a passive situation, not leading by a single point.

Fan Zhendong led 7-2 in the first game and won 11-6; in the second game, the 4-0 lead was chased to a 5-5 draw, and after 7-7, he scored 4 points in a row to win; in the third game, the two sides were deadlocked to a 9-9 draw, and Fan Zhendong finally sealed the victory 12-10 after missing a set point.

Fifth set: Wang Chuqin 3-0 Lin Zhongxun

Scores in three sets: 11-5, 11-7, 11-5.

Lin Zhongxun was in average condition in this game, incarnating as a "point boy" and losing two points alone. Wang Chuqin did not miss to make up for the regret of losing points in the first set and successfully helped the team win the third point.

The two sides have met 5 times before, Wang Chuqin has 4 wins and 1 loss, and only one loss was in the 2022 Asian Cup.

In this game, Wang Chuqin started 6-0 in the first game, led 9-2, and finally won 11-5; fell behind 3-6 in the second game, blasting out a wave of 8-1 scoring tide, and the pause failed to interrupt Wang Chuqin's reversal momentum, and won 11-7; in the third game, after 5-5, Wang Chuqin scored 6 points in a row, and finally ended the game 11-5.

The South Korean team was able to force the Chinese team to a tiebreaker, and the home fans may have a little regret, but it is certainly acceptable.

In the last Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese team narrowly defeated the Japanese team 3-2 in the semifinals, swept the German team 3-0 in the final to win the championship, and narrowly defeated the South Korean team 3-2 in the semifinals.