On April 19, Beijing time, at the 2024 ITTF Men's World Cup, Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan competed for a place in the semifinals. Lin Gaoyuan staged an epic comeback, and he came back from 1-8 down in the fifth game to lay the foundation for victory. It is worth mentioning that Lin Gaoyuan's expression was serious throughout the game, and he was also very calm after winning, and there was no celebration.
Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan both won the first place in the group stage and successfully advanced to the knockout round. In the previous 1/8 finals, both of them fell into a hard battle, Fan Zhendong narrowly defeated Lin Shidong 4-3, and Lin Gaoyuan eliminated Darko Joczyk 4-2. In the 1/4 finals, the two had a direct dialogue, and the two sides played 2-2 in the first four games.
In the fifth game, Fan Zhendong was in a hot state after the opening, comprehensively suppressed Lin Gaoyuan, and seemed to have found a familiar rhythm and state, he opened the bow left and right, and the offense and defense were very good, while Lin Gaoyuan's momentum was a little low, and there were not many offensive methods, just like that, Fan Zhendong played a 7-0 attack wave in the fifth game, and Lin Gaoyuan looked helpless.
However, Lin Gaoyuan did not give up, and worked hard to play every point, in the case of 1-8 behind, Lin Gaoyuan began to chase points, his backhand was very sharp, many times to resist Fan Zhendong's attack, when the defense was converted into offense, Lin Gaoyuan shot decisively, just when the game had been lost, there was a magical scene on the field, Fan Zhendong lost 8 points in a row in the case of 8-1 lead, many fans asked, what happened on the field? This is not the Fan Zhendong we are familiar with.
In fact, judging from the game process, Fan Zhendong could end this game a few times, but Lin Gaoyuan played too well, he was too capable of carrying it, and his backhand was simply too explosive. Fan Zhendong fell behind 8-9 in an instant, but he worked hard to adjust, scored 2 points in a row, and won the game point 10-9. Lin Gaoyuan was particularly tenacious, saving a game point and scoring three points in a row to win the game 12-10. From falling behind 1-8 to winning 12-10, Lin Gaoyuan completed a shocking reversal, which was magical enough, and the two jointly dedicated a particularly wonderful game.
Lin Gaoyuan's confidence was greatly boosted by the reversal and winning the fifth game, and he won the sixth game, eliminating Fan Zhendong with a big score of 4-2 and advancing to the semifinals, where he faced Tomokazu Zhang in the semifinals. Lin Gaoyuan, who won, is very calm, there is no celebration, his expression is very serious, in fact, he is very serious throughout the game, now Lin Gaoyuan is indeed a lot more mature, and his mentality is better, and he will face Zhang Benzhihe again, which is a good opportunity for him to take revenge. After the 8-1 lead was reversed, Fan Zhendong's morale was affected, and finally he was upset 2-4!