In the WTT Dusseldorf feeder event, Hong Kong's Zhu Chengzhu narrowly defeated South Korea's Lee Eun-hye 3-2, and the match was quite thrilling. Zhu Chengzhu lost the first two games 8-11 and 7-11 respectively, and he was already behind by a large score. In the third game, Zhu Chengzhu won 11-6, and Li Enhui wanted to win in the fourth game, but Zhu Chengzhu carried the key points 13-11.
In the deciding game, Zhu Chengzhu had a stronger ability to resist pressure, won 11-8, and finally reached the women's singles final. Her opponent in the final was Japan's Satsuki Oto, who reached the women's singles final for the second time in a week. She reached the final and won the championship in the last feeder event, and she is expected to win the championship again this time.
The overall strength of Daito Sayue is still above Zhu Chengzhu, and the playing technique of this player's first three boards is very advanced, and the connection speed is super fast. Satsuki Oto swept Taipei veteran Liu Xinyin 3-0 in the semifinals, winning the first and third games 11-6, and narrowly winning the second game 11-9 without giving the opponent a chance to turn the tables.
Satsuki Oto has a strong offensive pressure in the game, and may defeat his opponent by a large score to win the championship. In the men's singles semifinals, South Korea's Ahn Jae-hyun defeated teammate Cho Dae-sung 3-0 to reach the final. Ahn Jae-hyun won the runner-up in the last event, and this time he broke into the final to win the championship.
In the other men's singles semi-final, Kanak of the United States defeated South Korea's Kang Dong-so 3-0 to reach the final. Karnak narrowly won the first game 12-10, the third game 14-12, and only the second game was easier to win 11-7. In this way, Ahn Jae-hyun will compete with Kanak for the men's singles title, and the two sides have not played each other before, so it is believed that this is a battle of encounters.
Karnak has not participated in international competitions for a long time, and this time he came out to participate and directly reached the final, obviously he wants to quickly increase his points, Ahn Jae-hyun continues to participate in regional events, but also wants to increase points, I believe this game will be extremely exciting, because three Korean players reached the semi-finals, and he was the only one who reached the final, shouldering the task of winning the championship.
In the mixed doubles 1/4 match of the 2024 World Mixed Doubles Qualifying Tournament, Luxembourg's Ni Xialian/Luca lost 2-4 to Singapore's Zhou Zheyu/Zeng Jian and missed the mixed doubles championship. The veteran has been in a high-intensity mixed doubles match for two consecutive days, and the Singapore pair led 2-1 in the first three games.
Ni and Luka lost 12-14 in the second game, and if they can win the second game, they can at least drag the Singapore pair to the deciding game. Although Ni Xialian won the fifth game 11-9, they lost 8-11 in the sixth game and could not drag the opponent into the deciding set.
As a veteran in her 60s, Ni Xialian still insists on challenging for the Olympic mixed doubles qualification, indicating that she still wants to make a difference in the mixed doubles competition. It should be said that although this veteran is still honored, it is worth learning from young players. Equally disappointed by Ni were India's Nanasekaran and Batra, who were beaten 4-1 by Malaysia's mixed doubles.
Nanasekaran and Batra were knocked out yesterday by the little-known North Korean duo and today by Malaysia's Ko Ren / Chung Zi Yi, and the more unfamiliar the pair is that they don't often compete in international competitions, the more dangerous it becomes, as they simply don't adapt to the mixed doubles pair's style of play.
Nanasekaran and Batra lost 9-11 in the first three games, and they couldn't get key points every time, indicating that it had nothing to do with the strength of both sides, or there was a problem with the ability to resist pressure. Nanasekaran and Batra pulled one back 11-7 in the fourth game and lost 8-11 in the fifth.
In this way, Nanasekaran and Batra did not qualify for the mixed doubles competition at the Paris Olympics, and it is a pity to stick to an Olympic cycle. Romania's Ionescu/Szokos narrowly beat the American pair of Kumar/Amy Wang 4-3, and the Americans even took a 2-1 lead.
Ionescu/Szokos turned the tide in the sixth game and scored a crucial point 12-10 to drag the match into a decider. Ionescu/Szokos had an experienced start to the tiebreaker and won 11-5 easily. In doing so, Szokos reached the mixed doubles final, and the pair is also expected to claim an Olympic mixed doubles quota.
There were indeed a lot of upsets in the mixed doubles Olympic trials, especially the North Korean pair who got a mixed doubles ticket to the Olympics for the first time, and the reason why Lee Jung-sik/Kim Jin-young won the mixed doubles championship was because of their excellent ability to withstand pressure. Especially when it comes to the deciding set, the mixed doubles match is not only about technique, but also about the psychological fluctuations that occur during the match.
Although some mixed doubles pairs regularly compete in international competitions, it does not mean that they are very competitive. Some mixed doubles pairs have been able to pull off upsets for the first time in their competition, which has set the tone for the mixed doubles competition at this year's Olympics, so there will be many upset results in the mixed doubles competition at the Olympics.
Some mixed doubles pairs look strong, but they don't always win the match against real opponents, and the suspense of mixed doubles is particularly high, as was shown at the last Olympics. This pair of national table tennis pairs Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin also has an important impact, and I hope that this pair will compete at the same time and win the championship in the Olympic Games.