(by Steve Hopkins)

After rolling through most of the tournament easily, a confident Lin Shidong faced off against Liang Jingkun in one Semifinal matchup today.  Shidong started strong with 11-5 and 11-7 wins.  After that, things turned with Jingkun managing a pair of narrow 11-9 wins of his own.  With the score tied, Shidong had his best game, pushing through an 11-4 effort and regaining momentum.  At that point, Liang Jingkun played mistake free – winning 11-8 and 11-8, so seal the win.

In the other half of the draw, Wang Chuqin took out Lin Yun-Ju 4-2 to reach the Final.  Once there, Chuqin didn’t look back.  11-7, 11-2, a tight 16-14, and 11-5.  Chuqin scored a 4-0 win to claim the 2-025 Asian Cup title.

On the women’s side, it was mostly China (5 Chinese, 2 Japanese, and 1 Taipei) by the Quarterfinals, but only China in the Semifinals.  In the Semifinals, Sun Yingsha defeated Miwa Harimoto 4-2, Chen Xingtong topped Mima Ito 4-1, Kuai Man defeated Wang Yidi 4-2, and Wang Manyu beat Cheng I-Ching 4-1.  In the Final, it was Wang Manyu over Sun Yingsha 4-0.

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