On the evening of May 3, the Thomas Cup quarterfinals were an upset. Chou Tien Cheng defeated world number one men's singles Viktor Axelsen 21-19, 14-21, 21-19 to secure a valuable first point against Denmark for Chinese Taipei. This upset victory greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese Taipei team, except for the second singles Lin Junyi lost to the Danish star Antonsen, Chinese Taipei eliminated Denmark 3-1 with the victory of one singles, one double, and two doubles, and advanced to the semifinals of the Tang Cup for the first time.
The two sides have met 21 times before, and Zhou Tiancheng has only won 3 games. For the somewhat surprising victory in the soup cup, Chou revealed after the game that the key to his victory was a change of strategy. 'Because it's a big point for our team, I wanted to show a little bit of momentum, change some tactics and strategies, do some homework and show a different version of myself. At the last moment, Zhou Tiancheng withstood Axelsen's counterattack, he said, "Because Axelsen's kill is really not many people can receive it, so I have to take the initiative in front of the net and try to keep him passive." I know that his defense is very good, and it is not something that can be taken down in one or two hits, so I need to strengthen my attack and keep the pace all the time to have a chance to break through him. ”
The 34-year-old is currently ranked 14th in the world in men's singles, and there is no older player before this ranking. Talking about the reason why he chose to stay on the field so far, Zhou Tiancheng expressed his desire to hit the Olympic gold medal. This year will be his third Olympic appearance. "The Olympics is my dream, and the Olympic gold medal is every athlete's dream, and I feel that I still have the opportunity and the ability to fight for it, so I still persevere. "I'm lucky that I can maintain a high standard after the injury, so I have to work towards the Olympic gold medal." ”
And Axelsen, who will turn 30, revealed some pessimism in the soup cup. After beating Li Zijia in the group stage, the Dane once said that he had a physical problem when preparing for the soup cup, so he did not prepare enough, "As an athlete in his 30s, I don't know how long I can play." Since last year's Denmark Open, Axelsen has been affected by injuries and repeatedly withdrawn, and although he still maintains the world's top level, he is not invincible.
In the quarter-finals, Olympic Men's Doubles champions Li Yang/Wang Chi-lin claimed the second point for Chinese Taipei, before world No. 4 Men's Singles star Antonsen pulled one back for Denmark. In the fourth game, Lee Zhehui/Yang Po-hsu were the key to making history, and after they beat Kjaer/Frederick, all the players of the Chinese Taipei team rushed into the stadium to celebrate. In the semifinals of the Tang Cup, which will be held on the evening of the 4th, the Chinese Taipei team competes with the Indonesian team, and the Chinese team competes with the Malaysian team for another ticket to the final.
In addition, the semifinals of the Uber Cup will be held on the morning of the 4th, and the Chinese women's team led by Chen Yufei and Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan will play against the Japanese team. The other semi-final was a clash between South Korea and Indonesia, with world No. 1 Ahn Se Ying also unable to play due to injury.