(by Steve Hopkins)
Shandong Weiqiao dominated this year’s China Super League Finals. After securing a 3-0 win over Shanghai in the Semifinal (Shanghai’s team includes both Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin), the squad went on to sweep Huangshi Base Huaxin 3-0 in the Final.
At the start of 2025, the rankings of the Shandong top 3 are World No. 1 (Wang Chuqin), World No. 5 (Liang Jingkun), and World No. 13 (Lin Yun-Ju). There are no easy matches at this level, but its little wonder that this trio was able to sweep past a Shanghai team with a strong newly retired Zhendong and a savvy long-retired Xu Xin, or the Lin Shidong-anchored Huangshi team with the World No. 2 paired with less-known quality players like Xue Fei and Xiang Peng.
Perhaps the most surprising point to note in the Final, was how close the matches were. All three matches were tied 1-1 before Shandong powered through. The opening doubles match had Lin Yun-Ju and Liang Jingkun faced off with Xiang Peng and Xue Fei, and despite the difference in rankings, there was little difference between the teams early. Peng/Fei reached 7 first, and 8 first, but could not hold on to win the first game. The two teams then played even again in the second game, with Yun-Ju and Jingkun building an early lead before losing 5 of the final 6 points as Peng/Fei tied the match at 1-1. The two teams then split the next two games, before Shandong’s fast start in the fifth (winning the first four points) finally shut the door on the lower ranked Huangshi pair. World No. 1 and World No. 2 then faced off in the first singles match, with Shidong winning the first and third game, and Chuqin winning the second, fourth, and ultimately the fifth. The final set of the team match was Liang Jingkun versus Xue Fei – a 3-1 win for Jingkun. That sealed the victory for Shandong… A dominant performance, but with the results a little closer than the scores.
The next big event on the horizon is the Singapore Smash which starts on January 30. Chuqin, Shidong, Harimoto, Lebrun, Jingkun, Calderano, Moregard, and Gaoyuan will all be there – as nearly all of the best will start the new WTT Tour off in style in perfect conditions at the Singapore Sports Hub.
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