Macau, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The 2024 Macau ITTF World Cup came to an end on April 21, with Ma Long staging a Jedi counterattack to defeat Lin Gaoyuan 4:3 and win the World Cup men's singles championship for the third time. Sun Yingsha also experienced seven rounds of hard fighting, reversing Wang Manyu to win the World Cup women's singles championship for the first time.
As the captain of China's men's table tennis team, Ma Long has previously reached four World Cup finals, winning the championship twice in 2012 and 2015, while Lin Gaoyuan reached the World Cup final for the first time.
Although Ma Long had the overall advantage in the confrontation with Lin Gaoyuan, Lin Gaoyuan won the last two encounters. In this game, Lin Gaoyuan opened the situation like a bamboo, leading 3:0 with a big score. But Malone did not give up, and after three consecutive games, the two sides returned to the same running line. After the tiebreaker reached 4:4, Malone scored 5 points in a row to establish an advantage in one fell swoop and win 11:8.
After winning the thrilling victory, Ma Long said: "I think I and (Lin) Gaoyuan both played well today. I didn't expect to win the championship in the end, I said that I could finish in the top four, even if I fulfilled my dream, so when it comes to the semi-finals and finals, I believe everyone can feel that I played very relaxed, thank you for always cheering for me, and thank you for not giving up when you were down 3-0. ”
In the women's singles final earlier in the day, Sun Yingsha, who entered the World Cup final for the second time, met Wang Manyu, who participated in the event for the first time. In the game, Wang Manyu was chased by Sun Yingsha for two consecutive games when he was leading 3:1, dragging the game into a deciding game.
In the seventh game, Sun Yingsha took a 3-1 lead at the beginning, forcing Wang Manyu to ask for a timeout. After returning from the pause, although Wang Manyu tied the score several times, as she returned the ball out of bounds at a critical moment, Sun Yingsha won the tiebreaker 11-9.
After winning, Sun Yingsha leaned over and kissed the table, she said: "In today's game, (Wang) Manyu and I are going all out. It doesn't matter who wins or loses in the end, we are all winners in the final. In today's game, I fell behind for a while, took the lead in the seventh game, was tied later, and finally won the key point. I think it was an unusual game and a very rewarding game for my career. ”