The 2024 Thomas Cup in the sixth match day, opened the knockout competition, as the host of the national feather men's team, encountered the strength of the defending champion Indian men's team, the first two games, Shi Yuqi and Leung Wei Keng Wang Chang lived up to expectations, defeated Prannoy and Rankiredsheti respectively, helped the national feather score to take a 2-0 lead, the first to get the match point of the semi-finals, the third game Li Shifeng debuted, facing the current world No. 13 Lakshya, the two players in the past World Series, a total of 10 times, Li Shifeng with a record of 4 wins and 6 losses is at a disadvantage, The most recent meeting was at this season's French Open, when Li Shifeng lost to Lakshya in three games, and now they meet again, whether Li Shifeng can take revenge with the advantage of the home court, which has become the biggest highlight of this battle!
After the start of the first game, both of them were more nervous, there were a lot of mistakes in the opening stage, there were almost no more shots of confrontation, the two bit the score until 4 draws, although in the score stalemate stage, Li Shifeng relied on a decisive net to catch the assault, scored 2 points in a row to take a 6-4 lead, but then he judged Lakshya's bottom line out of bounds, there were continuous mistakes, so that the opponent returned a wave of 3-0, and the score was overtaken to 7-6, although Li Shifeng quickly equalized the score, and fought fiercely with the opponent to 9 draws, but the speed of the critical moment could not keep up with Lakshya, so that Li Shifeng with a 9-11 disadvantage, into the middle of the game interval。
After returning to the court, Li Shifeng obviously began to speed up the assault, although there was a mistake as soon as he came up, allowing Lakshya to extend the lead to 12-9, but then Li Shifeng turned on the hanging mode, flexible and changeable line changes, and precise control of the landing point, so that he directly blasted out a wave of 9-0, instantly established an 18-12 lead at the end of the game, and after Lakshya struggled to end the dilemma of losing consecutive points, Li Shifeng scored 3 points in a row to get off to a good start 21-13.
Lakshya, who was forced into a desperate situation, insisted on his own hanging control style of play in the second game, and obviously strengthened the active assault, and also established a 2-0 lead, but in the cheers of the home fans, Li Shifeng quickly equalized the score, and chased after the opponent, and fought until 7 draws, but he did not withstand Lakshya's sudden outburst, allowing the opponent to score 4 points in a row, ending the first half of the game with 11-7, after the game restarted, Lakshya was full of energy, constantly expanding the lead, and equalized the score 21-8。
In the deciding game, Lakshya was still unstoppable, and established a 6-3 lead early, although Li Shifeng stubbornly chased the score to 7 draws, but he was completely unable to keep up with the opponent in terms of speed, so that Lakshya exchanged venues at 11-8, although Li Shifeng stubbornly chased the score to 11 draws, but his physical overdraft made him lose the ability to resist, and saw Lakshya lock up the victory with 21-14.
After Li Shifeng's loss, the national feather men's team suffered the first defeat in the men's singles in the Thomas Cup, but still held a 2-1 lead, and the fourth men's doubles He Jiting Ren Xiangyu will make his debut, looking forward to their good performance and strive to help the national feather lock the top four!