The 2024 ITTF Macau World Cup continues to compete in the eight-in-four knockout rounds, and the national table tennis players have performed strongly in foreign battles, with Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, and Ma Long advancing to the singles semifinals after defeating their respective opponents, and it is worth mentioning that all three of them advanced to the semifinals after defeating Japanese celebrities. And in the only national table tennis civil war on this match day, two-time World Table Tennis Championships men's singles champion Fan Zhendong played poorly in the game with teammate Lin Gaoyuan, although he was twice behind and equalized twice, but in the fifth game of the battle of Tianwang Mountain, Fan Zhendong was reversed by Lin Gaoyuan in the case of a 7-0 lead in the opening game, and finally Fan Zhendong was defeated like a mountain and lost two games in a row, losing to Lin Gaoyuan with a total score of 2-4, stopping in the men's singles quarterfinals, Fan Zhendong failed to get good results in three consecutive tournaments, and it is really not time for the state to be in a downturn, Fan Zhendong has been in a downturn since the second half of last year, and so far Fan Zhendong has not come out of the trough。
Fan Zhendong played against world champion Lin Gaoyuan in this round, the latter advanced to the knockout round in the group stage, and in the last round he defeated European champion Dakojoczyk to advance to the quarterfinals, and Fan Zhendong's state is unsatisfactory, the first round of the game almost overturned in the gutter and was eliminated by the teenager Lin Shidong, he saved the match point and narrowly won 4-3, and it was difficult to reach the quarterfinals. The match with Lin Gaoyuan was a test for Fan Zhendong, although Fan Zhendong had the advantage in the two sides, but Lin Gaoyuan was not at a disadvantage in the last few encounters, and he also defeated Fan Zhendong last year. Fan Zhendong is the latest World Cup champion, is the defending champion of the men's singles of this World Cup, he has won the World Cup men's singles championship four times in the past, this World Cup Fan Zhendong is eager to use the fifth World Cup championship to get out of the recent downturn, but it is clear that Fan Zhendong is still not ready to get out of the trough, his state in this competition is up and down, if it is not for Lin Shidong's lack of experience, Fan Zhendong may have returned home after the first round of elimination.
Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan's game is particularly eye-catching, the first game Fan Zhendong started slowly, he has been behind in the first half, at the end of the game Lin Gaoyuan made another effort to easily win the first game 11-7, the second game Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan in the first half of the fierce competition, the battle to 4-4 Fan Zhendong scored two points in a row to open the score, the more brave Fan Zhendong finally pulled back a city 11-6, the third game of the game after the two sides fought to 3-3 Fan Zhendong lost points in a row in passivity, although the end of the game saved three game points in a row, but in the end it was 7-11 and lost another game。
In the fourth game, Fan Zhendong gradually opened the score after leading 6-2 at the beginning, and Lin Gaoyuan, who was behind, was unable to catch up with the score, Fan Zhendong won 11-6, and the first four games of the two sides were evenly divided into a 2-2 draw. In the key fifth game, Fan Zhendong started with momentum like a rainbow and scored seven points in a row to take a 7-0 lead, and Lin Gaoyuan, who was behind, then unbelievably blasted out a wave of 9-1 scoring climax to overtake Fan Zhendong 9-8, Fan Zhendong scored two points in a row to take the lead in getting the game point, Lin Gaoyuan scored three points in a row to win the game with a shocking reversal of 12-10, and in the sixth game, Fan Zhendong was demoralized, Lin Gaoyuan became more and more courageous, and finally won 11-7, with a total score of 4-2 to knock out the second Fan Zhendong in the national table tennis world, and advanced to the men's singles semifinals.
Lin Gaoyuan will next compete with Japan's Tomokazu Zhang for the right to the men's singles final, which will be a big test for Lin Gaoyuan, and if he wants to take off the hat of the king of the civil war, Lin Gaoyuan must eliminate Tomokazu Zhang in the semi-finals. The defeated Fan Zhendong's state is really worrying, with Fan Zhendong's current situation, whether he can get the men's singles quota for the Paris Olympics is still unknown, theoretically his points may be surpassed by Ma Long and miss the singles Olympic quota, this is by no means alarmist, Fan Zhendong's long-term absence is no longer a sluggish state can be explained, as the so-called sailing against the current does not advance or retreat, Fan Zhendong has repeatedly lost again and again The factor that cannot be ignored is that his own comprehensive strength is declining, it can only be said that Fan Zhendong's trough period is really not the time, the Paris Olympics are imminent, even if Fan Zhendong gets the singles ticket to the Paris OlympicsAs the closest male player to a Grand Slam among the active players in national table tennis, we still hope that Fan Zhendong can adjust his condition as soon as possible to meet more international competitions in the future.