(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTF)
There were lots of great matches this week at the WTT Champions Series event in Incheon, Korea. And there was a great local story with Korean Lee Sang Su having a great run through four solid players (Felix Lebrun, Anders Lind, Lin Gaoyuan, and Lin Yun-Ju) just to reach the Final. But the story of this tournament was the sheer domination of Xiang Peng, a Chinese player who has been considered second tier in that highly competitive environment, but who just tore through a WTT Champions event seemingly improving in each match.
Peng began with a 3-0 blanking of Omar Assar – a slight upset by the rankings, but where the Chinese paddler seemed to be the stronger player. Peng then fought through a tough 3-1 win over World No. 12 Jang Woojin, in front of Woojin’s home crowd. Next, Peng dropped the first game to World No. 5 Hugo Calderano before running off four in a row to move to the Semifinals. Peng’s opponent in the Semifinals was World No. 8 Patrick Franziska – a match filled with long points, powerful shots, and tight scores, but a match that Peng won comfortably 4-2. This set up a Final between the two big stories of the tournament – Lee Sang Su (the Korean surprise Finalist) and Xiang Peng (the Chinese surprise Finalist). The domination of the Final by Xiang Peng cannot be understated. He was the better server, the better returner, hit stronger shots from both sides, found difficult angles, and the result was never at risk. Peng won 4-0 dropping 15 points over four games – 4:0 (8, 0, 3, 4). Peng will now add another 1000 points to his cumulative total – which should be enough to see him rise to No. 13 or 14 in the World Rankings.
There was a surprise Semifinalist in Women’s Singles as Zhu Yuling of Macao (who cut down Hina Hayata and Satsuki Odo along the way) reached the Final Four. However, top seeds Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong each had easy runs early Sunday, with Yidi defeating Zhu 4-1 and Xingtong defeating Miwa Harimoto 4-2. The Final had some big momentum shifts, with Yidi taking the first game but then losing the next three. However, the event’s top seed (and World No. 1) Wang Yidi steadied the ship and won the final three games to claim the title over Chen Xingtong 4-3.
The next WTT tour stop is Taiyuan China for a WTT Conder Series event. Xiang Peng, An Jaehyun, and Chen Yuanyu will be the top three seeds when action starts on Tuesday. April 14th is the World Cup in Macao – another stage for the best of the best.
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