On March 27, 2024, the table tennis Incheon Championship continued, Slovenian star Darko swept Britain's Pitchford 3-0, blasted the first 11-1 of the tournament in the second game, and won a big victory to advance to the men's singles round of 16, and the potential opponent in the next round is Liang Jingkun.
Darko is ranked 15th in the world, he is the only first-class master in Slovenia, he has defeated the main force of national table tennis Liang Jingkun, the competitive level is naturally undoubted, Darko's backhand is of high quality and speed, and always has a strong threat, but the weakness is too obvious, the ability to adjust on the spot is not too strong, and there is often a lack of rhythm changes.
The other party is the 27th Pitchford, as the strongest player in the UK, Pitchford won over Malone and Xu Xin, but this was a long time ago, today's Pitchford is no longer in his prime, it is difficult to go to the front of the national table tennis, often focus on participation, even if he signs up for low-level events, he still fails to win the championship, Darko is in the rising stage after all, Pitchford has no chance of winning.
In fact, the technical and tactical characteristics of Darko and Pitchford are very similar, both of them use the backhand as the main means of attack, the quality of the forehand is relatively weak, the first three boards are very rough, and the small ball in the table is not good, although they have active twisting, but Darko has a higher scoring rate, Pitchford is particularly prone to mistakes, and this Olympic cycle Darko is more eye-catching, and Pitchford has been silent for a long time and his performance is mediocre.
After the start of the game, in the first game, Darko gave full play to his backhand advantage, as long as Pitchford's connection speed slowed down, Darko would directly attack, and put pressure on Pitchford by taking the initiative to twist and pull, Darko led 8-4, and then took the lead 11-7.
In the second game, Darko took advantage of the situation to chase, Pitchford couldn't stop Darko's backhand, the service round did not change, and it was a loss just by hard fighting, Darko blasted out 11-1 to win another game, which is also the first time that 11-1 appeared in this event, Darko is in good shape, the backhand attack is very stable, this play is still worthy of the attention of national table tennis, as for Pitchford, who has been valued before, it seems that there is no threat now.
In the third game, Pitchford's lead suddenly dropped, Darko fell behind to complete the reversal, ended the game 11-9, and finally swept Pitchford 3-0, becoming the second player to advance to the men's singles round of 16 after Hugo Calderano, and then the winner against Liang Jingkun and Carlberg, Darko sat and waited for the second seed Liang Jingkun to fight, this must be a little difficult, and the national table tennis coaching staff needs to prepare early.