The 2024 ITTF World Cup in Macau began to compete in the eight-in-four knockout rounds, and the national table tennis rival Japan performed quite well, with Chinese stars Tomokazu Zhang and Zhang Benmei and the two siblings both defeating their respective opponents to advance to the semi-finals. The first debut in the national table tennis is the veteran Ma Long, who staged a reversal in the match with the Japanese national champion Kosuke Togami, Ma Long fell behind 0-1, 1-2 when he fell behind three times in a row, eliminated his opponent with a total score of 4-2, and advanced to the men's singles semi-finals, and then he will go all out to fight for the third World Cup championship of his career. After reaching the semifinals of the men's singles at the World Cup, Ma Long basically locked up a place in the Paris Olympics, and whether he can get a place in the singles depends on how his teammates perform.
Grand Slam winner Ma Long played against Japanese national champion Kosuke Togami, who is known as the king of the civil war in Japan, which shows that Kosuke Togami did not have a good record in the international arena, but this tournament Kosuke Togami played well, and he reached the quarterfinals of men's singles in a row. Veteran Ma Long has won the men's singles championship twice before, although Ma Long did not clearly state the goal in this competition, but he must be eager to win the World Cup men's singles championship again, after all, as he gets older, he has fewer and fewer opportunities to win international competitions, and this World Cup may also be the last time of his career, and he is eager to add honor to his career with the championship. Judging from this competition, Ma Long has the strength to impact the championship, in the last round of the game he eliminated Felix, who has been in the limelight recently, against Togami Ryosuke, Ma Long has an advantage in any aspect, and it should not be too difficult to win.
The game between Malone and Kosuke Togami was more intense than expected, in the first game Malone entered the state slowly, on the other hand, Kosuke Togami entered the state faster, scoring consecutive points at the beginning to take a 6-2 lead, and the backward Malone failed to close the score, and Kosuke Togami easily won the first game 11-5 to take the lead. In the second game, the two sides started to draw 3-3, and Malone scored four points in a row to open the score, and finally pulled back a city 11-5, and the two sides fought to a 1-1 draw. In the third game, Malone lost consecutive points at the beginning of the game and fell behind 1-6, he scored four points in a row to close the score to 5-6, Togami Kosuke did not mess up, he scored consecutive points to reopen the score and finally won 11-7, and the big score was 2-1 again. In the fourth game, Malone fell behind 1-3 at the beginning, scored six points in a row, and overtook 7-3 and finally won 11-7, and the two sides drew 2-2 in the first four games. In the next two games, Malone gradually entered the state, Togami Ryosuke was unable to form a confrontation with Ma Long, Ma Long won the fifth game 11-3, and in the sixth game, Ma Long was unstoppable, and firmly took the initiative after scoring a 7-0 climax at the beginning and won 11-3, defeating the Japanese national champion Togami Ryosuke with a total score of 4-2 and advancing to the men's singles semifinals.
Ma Long defeated Felix and Togami Ryosuke in a row and then advanced to the men's singles semifinals, judging from the process of this competition, Ma Long is indeed more reassuring than the world champion Liang Jingkun, although some time ago repeatedly lost to players from other associations, but Ma Long rarely dropped the chain in key games, against Togami Rinsuke, Ma Long started very passively, but he quickly adjusted himself to a good state, which is indeed worth learning from young players. Ma Long has won the World Cup men's singles championship twice before, Ma Long is in good shape in this competition, and has every chance to impact his third World Cup singles championship, after reaching the semifinals, Ma Long will next have a high probability of facing the men's singles world No. 1 Wang Chuqin, although he has been at a disadvantage against Wang Chuqin recently, but Ma Long is not completely without a chance to win, and looks forward to the 36-year-old national table tennis veteran who can climb new heights again at the end of his career.