The 2024 ITTF Saudi Arabia Grand Slam began the second round of the men's and women's singles competition, and the national table tennis encountered an unprecedented challenge, among the four players who took the lead on the third match day, only the world No. 1 Wang Chuqin swept the world runner-up Ionescu and advanced to the top 16 of singles, and the other three world champions Liang Jingkun, Wang Manyu and Lin Gaoyuan were eliminated and missed the top 16 of singles. Among them, Liang Jingkun, ranked fourth in the men's singles world, was eliminated in the second round after losing 2-3 to Iran's Alamiyan, and Wang Manyu, the favorite to win the women's singles championship and ranked second in the world, did not play well in the match with India's Bharat and finally lost 1-3. Immediately after Lin Gaoyuan, who had just won the World Cup runner-up, also followed in his footsteps, in the match with the Danish unknown player Grote, although Lin Gaoyuan played very tenaciously, he saved the match point in the third game to recover a game, but in the end he lost to the opponent with a big score of 1-3, and stopped the men's singles round of 32. Before the second round of the national table tennis players was halfway through, three people were out, and the alarm sounded in advance, and the national table tennis should be extra cautious next.
In the context of the world champion Liang Jingkun and the Olympic champion Wang Manyu successively upset, Lin Gaoyuan, one of the main players of the national table tennis men's singles, appeared to face Denmark's Grote, who did not have too many outstanding performances in the international arena, whether in terms of world ranking or the comprehensive strength of the two, Lin Gaoyuan has an advantage. Lin Gaoyuan is the most controversial player among the five main players of the national table tennis men's team, he is often criticized for dropping the chain in the competition, and in the men's singles final of the Macau World Cup that ended not long ago, Lin Gaoyuan was defeated by Ma Long in the case of a 3-0 lead and missed the championship, which is also the closest Lin Gaoyuan has come to the singles world championship in his career, and he may not have it again if he misses it. In this Grand Slam, Lin Gaoyuan is in good shape, and in the first round, he swept his opponent in three consecutive games to advance. Lin Gaoyuan, who has missed the Paris Olympics, can completely relax his mind and play every game, but unfortunately his old problem of poor pressure resistance has been committed again.
The match with Grote was Lin Gaoyuan's second appearance in this competition, and the outside world had high expectations for Lin Gaoyuan, who played easily, but unfortunately Lin Gaoyuan once again disappointed the fans who liked him. At the beginning of the first game, Lin Gaoyuan lost three points in a row and fell into passivity, and in the middle of the game, Lin Gaoyuan gradually made efforts to chase the score to a 7-7 draw, and at the end of the game, Lin Gaoyuan lost three points in a row to lose a game 8-11. In the second game, Lin Gaoyuan's state warmed up, scoring four points in a row at the beginning to take a 4-0 lead, and then he inexplicably lost points in a row and was chased by the opponent to a 5-5 draw, and the morale-boosting Grote then became more and more courageous, and in the second half he maintained a two-point lead and 11-7 and then went to the next city, leading Lin Gaoyuan 2-0. In the third game, Lin Gaoyuan, who had no way out, fought fiercely with his opponent, and the two fought from 1 to 2 to 9 draws.
In the fourth game, Lin Gaoyuan was tied by the opponent when he led many times, and the two fought from 7 to 9 at the end of the game, after which Lin Gaoyuan wasted game points in a row when he was leading 10-9 and 11-10, and Grote won 13-11 after scoring three points in a row at the end of the game, defeating the national table tennis world champion Lin Gaoyuan with a total score of 3-1, breaking out another big upset in the men's singles field. In this way, the second round of singles has not all ended, and three world champions have been eliminated by the national table tennis team, and from the perspective of the game process, the national table tennis players did not lose by accident in the game, Wang Manyu and Lin Gaoyuan did not have many chances to win in the game, on the contrary, their opponents were all over-level performances, which also showed that the national table tennis players were not prepared for the difficulties encountered in the game. This also sounded the alarm for other national table tennis players, every player in the Grand Slam has a certain impact, no game can be easily won, and I look forward to the next games of the national table tennis players to play better and better.