The WTT Saudi Arabia Grand Slam men's singles quarterfinals ushered in the final match, with Wang Chuqin facing Denmark's Grote.
Grote is one of the big dark horses of this event. The 31-year-old is only ranked 27th in the world. He won Lin Gaoyuan in an upset, and won against Japanese table tennis rookie Shinozuka Daito.
Of course, Grote will not be Wang Chuqin's opponent. Wang Chuqin is in very good shape now, winning the championship many times, and his skills have reached the point of perfection. Wang Chuqin's mind is also very mature and he will not make any low-level mistakes. Therefore, Wang Chuqin swept Grote 4-0 and easily advanced to the men's singles semifinals.
This is the first time the two have played each other.
Xiao Zhan served as an off-court guide, not Wang Hao. After all, Wang Chuqin was brought out by Xiao Zhan.
In the first game, the two played inseparably. Wang Chuqin got off to a 2:0 start. Grote chased to 3 draws. In the middle game, Wang Chuqin scored 3 points in a row, and the score came to 8:4. After both sides scored 1 point each, Grote chased 4 points in a row to chase the score to 9 draws. Wang Chuqin scored 2 points in a row and won the first game 11:9.
In the second game, Wang Chuqin made a 6:1 start, and then led Grote 8:2. At the end of the game, Wang Chuqin scored 2 points in a row and won the second game 11:4.
In the third game, Wang Chuqin made a lot of mistakes, and Grote took a 5:2 lead. Wang Chuqin fought boldly and used his forehand to frequently put pressure on his opponent. Wang Chuqin chased the score to 5:6 and was only 1 point behind. Grote called a timeout.
In the next game, Grote scored 2 points in a row to take a 3-point lead again. Wang Chuqin opened and closed widely, chased 6 points in a row, and won the third game 11:8.
In the fourth game, Wang Chuqin quickly took a 7:1 lead. Grote scored three points in a row to close the gap. Wang Chuqin was very cautious and called a timeout. In the second game, Grote scored 2 points in a row, and the difference was only 1 point. The two sides fell into a stalemate and played to 9 draws. Grote made a mistake and dropped 1 point. In the multi-board standoff, Wang Chuqin fought successfully. Wang Chuqin scored 2 points in a row and won the fourth game 11:9.
In the end, Wang Chuqin swept Grote 4-0 and easily advanced to the men's singles semifinals.
There is a big gap in the strength of the two sides. Although Grote entered the quarterfinals in an upset, in the face of Wang Chuqin, who has strong technical strength and does not make mistakes, Grote has no way at all.
All four men's singles quarterfinals have been played. In addition to Wang Chuqin's 4-0 sweep of Grote, Lin Shidong defeated South Korea's Cho Dae-sung 4-1, South Korea's Jang Yuzhen defeated France's F. Lebrun 4-1, and Germany's Francesca swept teammate Qiu Dang 4-0.
The men's singles semi-finals are as follows: Lin Shidong vs. Wang Chuqin, and Zhang Yuzhen vs. Francesca. These two semi-finals must be good-looking.