Review of the women's team finals at the 2024 World Table Tennis Championships in Busan
The 2024 World Table Tennis Team Championships kicked off in Busan, South Korea, the most important table tennis world tournament before the Paris Olympics. As a traditional strong team, the Chinese table tennis team is naturally the biggest favorite to win the championship. In the group stage, except for the 3-2 narrow victory over India in the first round, the Chinese women's team won the rest of the games with a score of 3-0 and passed all the way.
The Japanese women's team is also a strong team in table tennis, and they performed well in the group stage, winning all of them with a score of 3-0 and making it all the way to the final. This is also the fifth time that the Chinese and Japanese teams have met in the women's team final since the 2014 World Table Tennis Championships in Tokyo.
Match recap
Sun Yingsha took the lead in presenting the gift
As soon as the final came up, the Chinese team sent the number one main force Sun Yingsha to play. Her opponent is rising Japanese star Miwa Haramoto, a 15-year-old who is not only competing in the team event for the first time at the World Table Tennis Championships, but has also been selected for the Japanese women's team squad for the Paris Olympics.
As soon as the game began, the two sides engaged in a fierce tug-of-war. However, soon Sun Yingsha controlled the rhythm of the game, her forehand push and block the ball skillfully and powerfully, and the backhand drop ball made Zhang Benmei and unguardable. Sun Yingsha took the lead for the Chinese team with a singles score of 11-5, 11-8 and 11-4.
Chen Meng and Hina Hayada fought fiercely
In the second match, Chen Meng had a strong conversation with Japan's number one singles Hina Hayata. The two have played each other 7 times before, and Chen Meng won them all.
In the first game, Chen Meng had a clear advantage in the first three boards, and she took the lead 11-6. However, in the next three games, Hina Hayada increased her fighting efforts, Chen Meng's performance declined significantly, and finally lost 1-3, and the Japanese team tied the total score at 1-1.
Wang Yidi doesn't feel good
In the third set, world No. 2 Wang Yidi played against Miu Hirano of Japan. It's a pity that Wang Yidi's hand was not good in this game, she lost 0-3, and the Japanese team overtook the score and rewrote the total score to a 2-1 lead.
Sun Yingsha went to the next city
In the fourth set, Sun Yingsha appeared again, this time against Hina Hayata. Sun Yingsha played quite well in this match, she played steadily, firmly controlled the initiative of the game, and finally equalized the total score for the national table tennis with a singles score of 11-2, 11-7 and 11-6.
Chen Meng's Jedi counterattacked to win
The tiebreaker was between Chen Meng and Zhang Benmeihe. At the beginning, Chen Meng fell behind 4-11 and once fell into passivity. However, after adjustment, she quickly regained control of the pace of the match, and won three consecutive games to score 11-7, 11-8 and 11-7 in singles to seal the victory for the Chinese team.
In this way, the Chinese women's team finally defeated the Japanese team with a total score of 3-2 in this marathon decisive battle, after nearly 4 hours of fierce battle, and won the Babylon Cup, which symbolizes the strongest strength of the world women's team, for the 23rd time at this critical time node in the Olympic year.
Qiu Yike's coaching staff has deficiencies in on-the-spot command
Although the final victory, during the final game, the on-the-spot command of the coaching staff of the national table tennis women's team did have some shortcomings. Coach Qiu Yike looked sad after the game, not very satisfied with some of the players' decisions and performances. Her restless expression reflected some confusion of the national table tennis coaching staff in this key battle.
Qiu Yike is a seasoned coach after all, and her "Five Golden Flowers" have grown into World Champions under her guidance over the past few years. I believe that through this final, Qiu Yike and her coaching team will definitely learn a lesson and be fully prepared for the upcoming Paris Olympics.
Sun Yingsha became the leader of the national table tennis women's team
In this final, Sun Yingsha contributed two points to her individual singles victory, and her outstanding performance contributed a lot. From a fledgling to a stand-alone leader, Sun Yingsha's growth speed is really surprising. Entering 2024, she has achieved good results in many competitions, including the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan and the subsequent Macau World Cup, she has made great progress and won the championship.
As the world's No. 1 women's singles player, Sun Yingsha will compete in women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles at the upcoming Paris Olympics. She will be joining Wang Manyu, Chen Meng and others in her quest for her second Olympic gold medal in the women's team, while also aiming for gold in the women's singles and mixed doubles in order to achieve a Grand Slam.
The strength of the Japanese women's team should not be underestimated
Although they failed to win the championship in the end, the performance of the Japanese women's team at the Busan World Table Tennis Championships was equally impressive. They went all the way in the group stage, and in the final, the Chinese team paid a great price to win.
15-year-old Miwa Harimoto, world No. 5 Hina Hayata, Miu Hirano and others all had excellent performances in this competition, and they are ready to challenge for the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. For the Chinese team, the Japanese team will undoubtedly be the biggest opponent in the Olympics.