Saudi Arabia Grand Slam Men's Singles Semifinals: Wang Chuqin fought hard in seven games
On May 10, Beijing time, the 2024 WTT Saudi Grand Slam entered the penultimate match day. In today's men's singles semi-finals, the Chinese team battled each other, with world No. 1 Wang Chuqin and rising star Lin Shidong in a fierce seven-game battle.
At the beginning of the competition, Lin Shidong showed his skills. The 19-year-old's high-quality backhand and pinching the ball were so precise that Wang's forehand defense was passive. In the first game, Lin Shidong took the lead with 11-8, and in the second game, he won 11-8 again, once leading the big score 2-0.
In the face of the strong offensive of his junior brother, Wang Chuqin looked a little embarrassed. However, as the world No. 1, he quickly adjusted his form and controlled the tempo from the third game. With his excellent forehand attack and accurate handle quality, Wang Chuqin won three games in a row, and the score of 11-8, 11-9, 11-4 was overtaken to 3-2.
Just when the audience thought that Wang Chuqin would successfully lock in the victory, Lin Shidong exerted his strength again. In the sixth game, he pulled one back 11-7 to tie the overall score at 3-3, thus dragging the civil war into a deciding game.
At the beginning of the seventh game, the two sides went back and forth, and the atmosphere on the court was tense. With his tenacious fighting spirit, Lin Shidong once stretched the score to 8-5 lead. But Wang Chuqin is very experienced, he called a timeout in time to adjust his tactics, and then scored 6 points in a row with his excellent offense, and finally won the tiebreaker 11-6 and defeated Lin Shidong with difficulty.
It was an epic battle. Although Lin Shidong failed to win in the end, his outstanding performance was amazing, fully demonstrating the strength of the new generation of national table tennis. As a coach, I am looking forward to the future of Lin Shidong. He made it all the way to the Grand Slam tournament and finally showed his ruthlessness on the semi-final stage.
From a technical and tactical point of view, Lin Shidong's backhand twisting and pulling quality is outstanding, and his forehand attack has also made great progress. What's more valuable is that in this kind of high-intensity game, he was able to adjust his state in time and find a way to deal with it from the game. This kind of on-the-spot adaptability is rare for a young player.
Lin Shidong is still a young player, and his psychological quality needs to be improved. He made slightly more mistakes at key moments in the seventh game, which was one of the reasons for his eventual loss. But judging from the whole game, Lin Shidong has shown great potential, and his future is promising.
As for Wang Chuqin, this post-00s teenager once again showed his tenacious fighting spirit. In the predicament of falling behind by two games, he was not discouraged, but responded calmly and turned the situation around little by little. Wang Chuqin is good at seizing opportunities on key points, and his counterattack at the end of the third game pulled one back, laying the foundation for the reversal of the big score.
In the decisive stage of the seventh game, Wang Chuqin was in danger. Faced with the dilemma of falling behind, he called a timeout in time to adjust his strategy, and then turned the situation around with his excellent attack, and finally fought back to win the championship. This quality of tenacious struggle is the biggest advantage of Wang Chuqin, a young player.
After this battle, Wang Chuqin will compete with German dark horse Francesca for the men's singles championship. For Wang, this will be an unprecedented challenge. Francesca has previously beaten Fan Zhendong, Qiu Dang and Zhang Yuzhen in a row, and her form is at its peak.
With an excellent forehand attack and on-court adaptability, Wang Chuqin is more than capable of taking on this challenge. If he can stay focused and play his best, he can win the title just around the corner. This is his third chance to win a Grand Slam, with the mixed doubles and men's doubles titles already in hand.
As a leading figure in national table tennis, the pressure on Wang Chuqin is naturally huge. However, there is pressure to be motivated, and I believe that he will be able to rise to the challenge and achieve another glory in the Saudi Grand Slam arena. Let's wait and see, looking forward to Wang Chuqin shining on the night of the finals and adding new glory to Chinese table tennis!
Germany's dark horse Francesca fought back and advanced to the Saudi Arabian Grand Slam men's singles final
On May 10, Beijing time, the second semifinal of the men's singles semifinals of the 2024 WTT Saudi Arabia Grand Slam tournament also started tonight. In this semi-final, Germany's dark horse Francesca and South Korea's first brother Zhang Yuzhen staged a fierce seven-game battle.
At the beginning of the match, Zhang Yuzhen took the lead in winning the first game with her excellent serve and accurate forehand attack. In the second game, Francesca adjusted her tactics in time and increased her backhand twisting and pulling to equalize the score. In the third game, Francesca scored another goal to overtake the big score.
Zhang Yuzhen did not give up. In the fourth game, he relied on his tenacious fighting spirit to win a city in a row and equalize the total score at 2-2. In the next two games, the two sides launched a protracted offensive and defensive battle, you come and go, and the atmosphere on the field is tense.
In the fifth game, Francesca took the lead 11-9. In the sixth game, Zhang Yuzhen pulled one back 11-5 and tied the total score 3-3, thus dragging the semi-final into a deciding game.
At the beginning of the tiebreaker, Zhang Yuzhen quickly stretched the score to an 8-5 lead with an excellent serve and accurate forehand attack. Just when the audience thought that Zhang Yuzhen would successfully lock in the victory, Francesca made another effort.
The German dark horse scored six points in a row with his excellent backhand twist quality, and finally won the championship with an earth-shattering 11-8 counterattack. When the last point was pocketed, Francesca crouched on the court in excitement and covered her face with her hands, as if to hide her tears.
It was a spectacular match, a classic battle of the Saudi Grand Slam. Although Zhang Yuzhen failed to win in the end, his tenacious fighting spirit is worthy of admiration. As a rising star in the Korean table tennis world, Zhang Yuzhen showed a very high on-the-spot adaptability and psychological quality.
Judging from the technical and tactical aspects of the game, Zhang Yuzhen's forehand attack is of extremely high quality, and her serve is also very threatening. He was able to take advantage of the key points and play a good attacking shot. In the decisive stage of the seventh game, Zhang Yuzhen's pause seemed to backfire, and instead disrupted his rhythm.
Francesca was even better on this one. The German dark horse fought back to win the championship with his tenacious fighting spirit and excellent backhand twisting quality. His play at the crucial moment of the seventh game can be called a classic of this Grand Slam.
If Francesca is to make another big splash on the final night, she will have to prepare for an even tougher challenge. His opponent will be world No.1 Wang Chuqin, who is in the prime of his form, having already won both the mixed doubles and men's doubles titles at this Grand Slam.
Against such a strong opponent, Francesca had to play at her best. He needs to make the most of his excellent backhand pull quality and try more on the offensive end. Only then will he be able to pull off a miracle on the night of the final.
Regardless of the final result, Francesca has already made a big mark for the German table tennis team. He is only the second German player after Thomas Mestre to reach a WTT Grand Slam final. This achievement is enough to go down in history and let the world witness the strength of German table tennis.