In the fierce table tennis arena, the moment when the strong and the opponent clash is always exciting. On May 8, 2024, Beijing time, the WTT Saudi Arabia Grand Slam entered the fifth day of competition, and the smoke on the battlefield immediately rose in the showdown between top seed Sun Yingsha and South Korean star Tian Zhixi. This matchup has attracted the attention of countless table tennis fans, after all, it is a contest between two masters with very different styles. However, Sun Yingsha played strongly and swept Tian Zhixi 3-0 and directly locked the women's singles quarterfinals. The victory in this battle not only allowed her to maintain a six-game winning streak against Tian Zhixi, but also allowed her to aim for a double championship and hit the gold medal like a bamboo!
For the duel between Sun Yingsha and Tian Zhixi, fans already know in their hearts - there is not much suspense about the outcome of the victory. The two sides have met five times before, Sun Yingsha has won all, and Tian Zhixi himself has frankly admitted that he is completely inferior to the main force of national table tennis. But it is such a game with a huge disparity in strength, but there is a suspenseful psychological competition behind it - how will this game be played, what kind of winning skills will Sun Yingsha show, and can Tian Zhixi fight back? With these suspense, the game kicked off.
At the beginning of the game, Tian Zhixi took the lead in serving, trying to take the lead with his rich experience and varied first-three board strategy. As soon as she got on the court, she adopted an aggressive serve tactic, hoping to suppress Sun Yingsha with a change of pace. However, Sun Yingsha withstood the hold with a steady hair extension and quickly established a 5:1 lead. Tian Zhixi looked a little embarrassed when dealing with it, and even if he increased the change of serve, it could not work, and finally lost the first game 11-4.
Perhaps it was the loss in the first game that made Tian Zhixi's mentality fluctuate, and her offensive in the first three boards in the second game also seemed weak. In this game, Sun Yingsha was completely in control of the situation, and even though she gave away 1 point due to a mistake at the beginning, she quickly counterattacked and opened the gap 3:1. Next, she continued to calculate the rhythm of her opponent through hair extensions, scored 11 points in a row, and won the second game with a score of 11:1, which made Tian Zhixi fall directly into despair and feel as if she was stunned head-on.
In the third game, Tian Zhixi tried to adjust his mentality and strategy through a timeout, hoping to turn the situation around. However, Sun Yingsha still gave her all like a tiger and did not give her opponent any respite. Although Tian Zhixi once scored a few points in a row through a change of serve to chase the score to 2:4, Sun Yingsha played steadily and once again controlled the rhythm of the game and expanded the score to 10:5. In the end, she won the third game 11-5 and ended the match cleanly with an aggregate score of 3-0.
After winning this match, Sun Yingsha has steadily advanced to the quarterfinals and will face teammate Qian Tianyi in the quarterfinals. She was very calm in her post-match interview, saying that she would look at the next games with a calm mind, and she was also looking forward to the Paris Olympics. She has already secured Olympic qualification for the mixed doubles, and the women's singles qualification is also certain, just waiting to be officially announced. Now, she is poised to make it a triple crown at the Olympics and add to her career at the Grand Slam triumph.
In this year's Saudi Arabia Grand Slam, the national table tennis as a whole continues to rank among the top in the world with a score of 8 wins and 4 losses. In the women's singles competition, Chen Meng, Wang Yidi and Qian Tianyi also successfully advanced to the quarterfinals. Although Ma Long, Lin Gaoyuan and Wang Manyu and others were upset, it cannot be ignored that they still showed a high level of competition. In doubles, Ma Long/Wang Chuqin, Chen Meng/Wang Manyu and other pairs also continued to maintain a good momentum and steadily advanced to the semi-finals.
In the mixed doubles competition, Sun Yingsha partnered with Wang Chuqin and defeated Japan's strong pair Tomokazu Zhangmoto/Hina Hayada 3-0 to advance to the final, allowing the national table tennis to maintain its advantage in the mixed doubles field. Whether in singles or doubles, the national table tennis players have shown strong strength and resilience, and have accumulated valuable practical experience for preparing for the Paris Olympics.
Sun Yingsha's victory once again confirmed her strong strength as a leading figure in national table tennis. Whether facing an international player like Tian Zhixi or her upcoming teammate Qian Tianyi, she has shown great confidence and determination. As the world number one, her double title is not only a pinnacle goal, but also an important step towards achieving her Olympic Grand Slam dream. As she said after the fight, she will only continue to be in her current form and give her all to prepare for every upcoming match. I look forward to Sun Yingsha being able to continue to win more glory for national table tennis in the future!