(By Steve Hopkins)
China dominated in Croatia this week at the WTT Contender Zagreb event. Hugo Calderano fell in the opening round (to Japan’s Togami 3-2), leaving Fan Zhendong, Lin Gaoyuan, Lin Shidong, and Xiang Peng to fight it out for the title . World No. 1 Fan Zhendong beat Lin Shidong in one semifinal 3-1. Fan jumped out to an easy 2-0 lead and they traded games to end with the the 3-1 score. In the other half of the draw, Lin Gaoyuan dominated Xiang Peng 3-0. In the Final, it was Lin Gaoyuan winning the final two games to pull out the 4-3 upset win.
The Women’s Singles event also saw an upset loss to a World No. 1. Sun Yingsha swept through the early rounds with four 3-0 wins to reach the finals. However, Japan’s World No. 21 Miu Hirano would not be swept out of her opportunity to win in Zagreb. Miu fought off a pair of match points in the sixth game to win that game 14-12, and then dominated the seventh game to take the title 4-3. Miu also won a semifinal match against China’s Kuai Man – a strong showing for Japan’s fifth best player.
Zagreb also had doubles events. China pairs won Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles – Lin Shidong and Yuan Licen won Men’s Doubles, and Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha claimed the Mixed Doubles title. The Women’s Doubles title went to Jeon Jihee and Shin Yubin.
The tour heads to Slovenia next – with a WTT Contender event. US Players, of course, are playing in Texas at the US Nationals. We’ll have updates from both events this week.
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