(by Steve Hopkins)

World No. 1 Wang Chuqin fought back from a 1-3 deficit to even the match, but lost 12-10 in the last game to Liang Jingkun.  The ripples of that Semifinal result could bring us a new No. 1 on Sunday.

World No. 2, Lin Shidong played a tight match with France’s Alexis Lebrun, but each game resulted in a win for Shidong.  That 4-0 win punched Shidong’s ticket to the Final.  Here’s where things get interesting – Shidong currently trails Chuqin in the World Rankings by 992 points and while there is a complex system past event results rolling out of the point totals, it is most likely that if Shidong earns an extra 1000, he will overtake the top position in the rankings. Just by making the Final, Shidong has earned an extra 700 points and he could earn another 600 points if he wins the Final.  So after the Final is played, Shidong will either be about 300 points behind, or he will be about 300 points ahead.

The Women’s Singles event has contained less drama at the top.  Top seeded Sun Yingsha has reached the Final, and while it is very interesting that World No. 15 Kuai Man has managed to punch through the draw to the Final, the match tomorrow is unlikely to affect the World Rankings much.  Kuai has been on the rise for some time, and she is heading towards the World Top 10.  However, the top three players in the Rankings, Sun, Manyu, and Yidi are so far ahead that they are likely to be in their same ranking positions well into the Summer.

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