(by Steve Hopkins, image WTT)
The best of the best battled in South Africa last week at the 2023 ITTF World Table Tennis Championship Finals and the final match-ups were as exciting as expected. The biggest story of the Quarterfinals were two unexpected runs of Egypt’s Omar Assar and Denmark’s Anders Lind – but after both fell in the Quarters, it was just the biggest names. Fan Zhendong (No. 1), Wang Chuqin (No. 2), Ma Long (No. 3), and Jiang Jingkun (No. 5) were the final four players – and after Fan Zhendong took out Liang Jingkun 4-2, and Wang Chuqin took out Ma Long 4-1, it was down to just Fan and Chuqin.
In the Final, the two players traded wins in the first two games. Fan then set the pace with a win in the third. It was the fourth game that likely sealed the match – as the two traded points all the way to 10-10 before Fan won two points and went up 3-1. Wang Chuqin had a hard fought win in the fifth game, so narrow the gap (13-11) – but Fan dominated the sixth game 11-3 to repeat as Champion.
World No. 1 Sun Yingsha lost the first game to Chen Meng 9-11, but recovered easily by sweeping the next three. The two players then traded the final two games, for a 4-2 Sun Yingsha win.
The Doubles Events concluded Saturday with the two Men’s Finalists (Chuqin and Zhendong) teaming up for the 3-0 win over Korea’s Jang Woojing and Lim Jonghoon. Korea’s Jeon Jihee and Shing Yubin upset the defending World Champions (Sun/Wang) in the Semifinals, but then fell 0-3 to Wang Yidi and Chen Meng in the Women’s Doubles Final. And in Mixed Doubles, it was Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin with a 3-0 win over Japan’s Hina Hayata and Tomokazu Harimoto.
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