Fan Zhendong made a shocking reversal 1-3, fought Lin Gaoyuan again, and Sun Yingsha eliminated his teammates
On April 18, Beijing time, the 2024 Macau ITTF Men's and Women's World Cup, two national table tennis derbies were staged. In the men's singles field, Fan Zhendong staged a shocking reversal after falling behind 1-3, narrowly defeated Lin Shidong 4-3, advanced to the quarterfinals, and fought Lin Gaoyuan again in the quarterfinals. In the women's singles field, Sun Yingsha eliminated teammate Chen Xingtong 4-1, and then competed with Zheng Yijing for a place in the semifinals.
In the men's singles 1/8 finals, Fan Zhendong faced Lin Shidong again, and Fan Zhendong was eliminated by Lin Shidong in the previous Singapore Grand Slam. When they met again this time, Lin Shidong still showed good form, and at some moments, his style of play seemed to restrain Fan Zhendong. Lin Shidong won the first game 11-7, and Fan Zhendong won the second game 11-9. In the third game, Fan Zhendong chased 10 draws after falling behind 6-10, but Lin Shidong was not affected, and then scored 2 points in a row to win another game 12-10.
Lin Shidong became more and more courageous, and won the fourth game 11-6, leading Fan Zhendong 3-1, and saw the hope of winning again. Fan Zhendong withstood the pressure and won the fifth game 11-9. In the sixth game, Fan Zhendong maintained the lead in the first half of the game, Lin Shidong worked hard to chase the score, and staged a extreme counterattack in a particularly passive situation, and a fairy ball score made Fan Zhendong helpless. At the end of the game, Fan Zhendong got the game point 10-9, and Lin Shidong scored 2 points in a row, but won the match point 11-10. However, Fan Zhendong's ability to play key shots is really strong, and he saved match points in adversity, winning another game 13-11 and dragging the game into a deciding game.
In the final tiebreaker, Fan Zhendong was completely released and once led 8-3, but Lin Shidong was too tenacious, he continued to chase points, only 7-8 behind, and the suspense of the game returned. At the end of the game, Fan Zhendong got the match point 10-8, and Lin Shidong saved two match points and chased it to 10 draws. After that, Fan Zhendong got the match points 11-10, 12-11, 13-12, but they were all resolved by Lin Shidong, Lin Shidong saved 5 match points in a row, but unfortunately lost 2 points in a row after 13 draws, and lost Fan Zhendong 13-15, and the big score was 3-4. This is a game that will go down in history, and Wang Hao in the stands laughed. Fan Zhendong showed strength in adversity, while Lin Shidong let us see the future of national table tennis.
Fan Zhendong advanced to the quarterfinals with difficulty, and fought Lin Gaoyuan again in the quarterfinals. In other matches in the men's singles 1/8 finals, Zhang Benzhihe eliminated Freitas 4-2 and won the quarterfinals, and faced Anton Carlberg in the 1/4 finals. Another Japanese player, Hayasuke Togami, also played strongly, knocking out Omar Asal 4-2 and then challenging Ma Long.
In the women's singles 1/8 finals, Sun Yingsha and Chen Xingtong played a derby, Sun Yingsha's on-court state was even better, and her comprehensive strength was stronger, she eliminated Chen Xingtong 4-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals of women's singles, and faced Zheng Yijing in the 1/4 finals. Adriana Diaz swept Sofia Polkanova 4-0 and easily advanced to the quarterfinals, where she faced Miwa Zhang in the quarterfinals. Wang Manyu reversed Szokos 4-1 and also won the quarterfinals!