(by Steve Hopkins)
In the Summer of 2019, Lin Gaoyuan was the fastest rising player on the circuit. His three year rise up the rankings had taken him steadily up from No. 62 all the way to No.2. However, the momentum didn’t last, and through the frozen rankings of the Pandemic he was No. 5, and then No. 10 through the first half of 2022 before falling all the way to No. 20 last Summer. Things seem to have shifted again for Gaoyuan – a steady rise in the rankings the reached No. 10 after his Quarterfinal appearance at the Singapore Smash last month. Several major events passed between Singapore and this weeks WTT Star Contender Bangkok, and Gaoyuan did not have opportunity to play in those events. He had the chance to play this week, however, and he made the most that opportunity.
World No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto entered the tournament in Bangkok as the top seed and World No. 5 Liang Jingkun was the second seed. Gaoyuan was seeded third at No. 10 – and other big names included Quadri Artuna, Lim Jonghood, and Dimitrij Ovtcharov. Entrants also featured some of the younger and lesser-known Chinese players such as Lin Shidong, Xiang Peng, Xu Yingbin, and Yuan Licen.
The top of the draw was full of upsets. Harimoto fell to Xu Yingbin 3-1. After the upset, Xu fell in the next round to Yuan Licen. Lin Shidong and Xiang Peng were both upset by Korea’s Cho Seungmin. So emerging into the Semifinal from that loaded top quarter was China’s Yuan Licen. Quadri Aruna fell to Liam Pitchford in the Round of 16 – an upset that helped launch Gaoyuan into the Semis (where he would face Yuan Licen).
In the bottom half of the draw, Korea’s Jang Woojin moved forward easily all the way to the Semifinals with wins over Lebesson, Filus, and Qihao. But, in another surprise, it was Anton Kallberg that emerged from the bottom fourth of the draw – a draw that included Ovtcharov, Jingkun, and Kristian Karlsson. Kallberg upset Jingkun in the Round of 16 as his Swedish teammate Kristian Karlsson upset Ovtcharov. The all-Swedish Quarterfinal went to Kallberg 3-1.
Each of the Semifinals ended quickly. Lin Gaoyuan dominated Yuan Licen 3-0. Jang Woojin also dominated Anton Kallberg 3-0. The Final was an entertaining 4-3 match that included a 19-17 Woojin win in the third game and an emotional 11-9 victory in the final game for Gaoyuan.
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