Macau World Cup April 16 schedule: Ahn Jae-hyun may throw all the pressure to Wang Chuqin, Kuo Man's debut
On April 15, Beijing time, the 2024 ITTF Macau Men's and Women's World Cups ended the first day of competition.
A total of 16 group matches were played in men's and women's singles on the match day, with 6 men and 5 women in Chinese table tennis, "Five Golden Flowers" Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi, Chen Meng, and Chen Xingtong won all five games, and only Wang Yidi lost one game. Among the six male players in the national table tennis, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Liang Jingkun, Lin Shidong and other four swept their opponents 4-0 and grabbed the initiative to qualify from the group; while Lin Gaoyuan won two games in a row 12-10 and 11-7, but lost two games 11-13 and 8-11, and the small score was only one point more than the opponent; Wang Chuqin, the world's No. 1 Wang Chuqin, also encountered a similar "plot" to Lin Gaoyuan, and failed to win in one go when he was leading 2-0 at 11-9, 11-7, but was won by South Korean player Ahn Jae-hyun 11-9, 11-8 won two games in a row, and the big score was chased to a 2-2 draw, and the small score was only 1 point more than the opponent.
Among the players of foreign associations, the main competitors of the national table tennis men's singles, Zhang Benzhihe, Lin Yunru, Hugo Calderano, Felix Lebrun, Zhang Yuzhen, etc., have all made a good start. Only the Chiu Party was held to a draw by Egypt's 44-year-old veteran Ahmed Saleh.
The main competitors of the national table tennis women's singles, Shin Yubin, Miu Hirano, Hina Hayata, Miwa Zhangmoto, Szoks, Tian Zhixi, Zheng Yijing, A. Diaz and others all won the first match. Among them, Shen Yubin was beaten 11-0 by Zeng in the first game, and won three consecutive games. Miu Hirano faced the injured Australian 15-year-old Lin Jocelyn and did not relent, and went back to 11-0 in the third and fourth games. Misei Ito broke out a big upset, drawing 2-2 with Thailand's Sutasini and falling behind 37-40, and the qualifying situation is not optimistic. Probably because Sutasini has been playing in Japan's T-League for a long time and is familiar with Japan's main players, he can often play well against them, beating Hina Hayada at the Singapore Grand Slam last year, and this time he won against Mimato Ito.
On April 16, the second round of the group stage will be contested, and there will also be 16 matches for men's and women's singles. The 11 players who appeared on the first day of national table tennis had a bye in the second round, and only Kuo Man appeared alone, and the national table tennis fans who bought tickets on the 16th are estimated to be bleeding. However, even if they win 4-0 in the first round of the group stage, they may end up out, so it is important to keep an eye on the performance of other players in the group.
April 16 key fixtures
10:50 Hayasuke Togami vs Ahmed Saleh
The opportunity is close at hand! Qiu Dang, the world's highest-ranked player in Group 11, was forced to a 2-2 draw by Saleh in the first round, as long as Hayasuke Togami plays steadily, wins Saleh in the second round, and then forces Qiu Dang to draw or defeat him in the third game, there is a high probability of qualifying.
14:30 Alex Lebrun vs Alberto Mino
They are in the same group as Lin Shidong in the 13th group, and Alex is able to create some pressure on Lin Shidong. If Alex can also defeat his opponent, then the competition between Alex and Lin Shidong in the third round will be white-hot.
17:00 Simon Goetz vs Mohamed Albjali
Simon Goetz played well at the Incheon Championship and reached the quarterfinals of the men's singles. This time he was in the same group as Zhang Yuzhen, and he still had a chance to qualify, so he won this game first, and then beat Zhang Yuzhen to death.
20:00 Glasmenko VS Ahn Jae-hyun
Ahn Jae-hyun forced Wang Chuqin to draw in the first round, and if he can go to the next city in the second round, the pressure will be all thrown to Wang Chuqin. The four-game event in the group stage is so tense and exciting, and it can keep the suspense until the last round.
20:00 蒯曼VS洪剑芳
With the identity of the U19 women's singles champion of the World Youth Championships, Kuaiman squeezed out the top-ranked Qian Tianyi and was lucky to qualify for this World Cup. Kuaiman is younger than the top 6 main players in national table tennis, and has been cultivated as a key object for a long time, but she is also 20 years old this year, except for the mixed doubles results with Lin Shidong, she has not done much in women's singles. This year is an Olympic year, and we will soon enter the next Olympic cycle, and it is time for Kuaiman to produce results. If she can take advantage of this opportunity to move up the rankings, she may be able to get more opportunities to participate in major tournaments in the future after the veteran gradually fades out of the national team.
Australian-Chinese player Hong Jianfang, 51 years old, is ranked 93rd in the world.
22:00 Zhuang Zhiyuan VS Tomislav Puka
Puka and Lin Gaoyuan fought 2-2 in the first round, and if they can win Zhuang Zhiyuan again in the second round, it will be too difficult for Lin Gaoyuan to face Zhuang Zhiyuan in the third round: not only to win, but also to win beautifully. And if Zhuang Zhiyuan defeats Puka, the pressure on Lin Gaoyuan will be less, and he only needs to defeat Zhuang Zhiyuan in the third round. In short, Lin Gaoyuan has no way back, no matter what the results of the two opponents in the second round, only by winning the game in the third round can he have the possibility of qualifying from the group.
Compared with the similar level of male players, the gap between the level of female players is larger, and the possibility of upsets is less.