Day 3 features the team quarterfinals. After a day of intense competitions, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Beijing and Sichuan (women) and Shanghai, PLA, Sichuan, Guangdong (men) made to the semifinals.
An unexpected victory for Team Guangdong! Team Guangdong won over the 'superpower', Team Beijing 3-1 and headed to the semifinals. It's not Team Beijing playing poorly but Team Guangdong is on fire (Yan An from Team Beijing has his right elbow heavily taped, not knowing whether issues on his right elbow is bothering him). Lin Gaoyuan contributed 2 crucial points (won over Wang Chuqin 3:0 and Ma Long 3:2). The veteran Zhang Chao had a good game against Yan An winning 3:1. Team Guangdong used to be a 'superpower' back in 1997 when they won the men's team title in 1997 National Games. In the later days, the team was comprised of Ma Lin, Liu Guozheng, Zhang Chao etc, some of the top Chinese table tennis athletes but came short from winning the title again. With the retirement of Ma Lin and Liu Guozheng and Zhang Chao taking up the role as a coach of Team Guangdong (and he compete as an athlete in the Games), many have thought it is the end of the hey day of Guangdong. Lin Gaoyuan injured himself at the preliminary tournament held in March in Anshan and did not have a satisfying meet (he did not qualify for men's singles and played in the team events). However he has learnt from the past experience and has some eye-catching performance in the 13th Games. He has taken down crucial points for the team and remains undefeated till this point. The team will be playing against Team Sichuan, which won over Henan 3-2. Team Guangdong has a good shot of making to the finals. Can they win back the long lost men's team titles at the National Games? Don't miss the semifinals scheduled on 31 Aug and the finals on 1 Sep. Information of the schedule and streaming links are provided at the end of this post.
Team Shanghai is the first team to secured their spot in the semifinals winning 3-0 over the relatively less competitive Team Jiangsu. The team will play against Team PLA which won over Team Shandong 3-2. The match between Team PLA and Team Shandong is a thriller. It started off with the match between Fang Bo and Zhou Yu. It was a see-saw match but Zhou Yu made quite many mistakes in his forehand and gave away the point. The second match was the match between Zhang Jike and Fan Zhendong. Fan Zhendong was a bit nervous at the beginning and had made mistakes. He retained composure and won 3-1. Liu Dingshuo helped Team Shandong to take its lead in the third match with a 3:2 victory. Team PLA was not discouraged by the lost in the third match and comeback winning the 4th match (Fan Zhendong 3:0 Fang Bo) and the 5th match (Zhou Yu 3:1 Zhang Jike). It is a match with no loser as Team Shandong has showed their fighting spirit and contributed such an amazing match.
For the women, it is a replica of 2016 Chinese Nationals women's team finals. Zhu Yuling earned 2 points for the Sichuan team and won Team Shanxi by 3-1. Team Sichuan will play against Team Beijing led by Ding Ning in the semifinals. Heilongjiang defeated Hebei 3-0 with 3 straight 3:2. Team Hubei and Team PLA had a 4-hour competition. At the end, Hubei headed into the semifinals with a slenderest margin. To my surprise non of the top qualifier are able to make to the semifinals. This tells the teams are about the same level. It comes down to who had a good day.
Results of Day 3 (30 August)
Women's Team
Hebei 0-3 Heilongjiang (Footage for the first 2 matches)
He Zhuojia 2:3 Wang Manyu (10:12, 11:8, 7:11, 11:7, 9:11)
Sun Yingsha 2:3 Che Xiaoxi (7:11, 11:9, 11:5, 8:11, 6:11)
Zhang Wenjing 2:3 Wang Xuan (9:11, 11:9, 9:11, 11:7, 11:13)
Hubei 3:2 PLA (The last point)
Feng Yalan 3:1 Hu Limei (13:11, 11:4, 10:12, 11:5)
Zhang Rui 2:3 Mu Zi (9:11, 11:8, 11:6, 5:11, 3:11)
Sun Yizhen 3:2 Liu Xi (11:8, 12:10, 3:11, 9:11, 11:6)
Feng Yalan 2:3 Mu Zi (9:11, 16:14, 3:11, 11:4, 7:11)
Zhang Rui 3:2 Hu Limei (11:7, 2:11, 11:4, 7:11, 11:7)
Jiangsu 1-3 Beijing
Zhang Qiang 0:3 Sheng Dandan (6:11, 7:11, 6:11)
Qian Tianyi 0:3 Ding Ning (2:11, 9:11, 1:11)
Liu Fei 3:1 Li Jiayuan (9:11, 11:8, 11:5, 11:5)
Zhang Qiang 0:3 Ding Ning (9:11, 8:11, 6:11)
Sichuan 3-1 Shanxi (Full Match)
Guo Yan 0:3 Wu Yang (8:11, 4:11, 7:11)
Zhu Yuling 3:0 Li Xiaodan (13:11, 13:11, 11:6)
Fan Siqi 3:0 Lyu Tingting (11:6, 11:6, 11:4)
Zhu Yuling 3:0 Wu Yang (11:7, 11:4, 11:8)
Men's Team
Video: Full Match For All 4 Tables For Men's Quarterfinals !!!
Shanghai 3-0 Jiangsu
Xu Xin 3:0 Zhu Cheng (11:9, 11:7, 11:6)
Shang Kun 3:1 Zhang Yudong (13:11, 11:3, 2:11, 11:6)
Zhao Zihao 3:0 Sun Wen (11:9, 11:7, 11:7)
Shandong 2-3 PLA
[Footage 1, Footage 2 for the first 4 matches]
[Better Quality Video: 3rd to 5th match]
Fang Bo 3:2 Zhou Yu (6:11, 11:6, 10:12, 11:3, 11:8) [Footage starting at 05:15)
Zhang Jike 1:3 Fan Zhendong (14:16, 11:6, 6:11, 12:14)
Liu Dingshuo 3:2 Xu Chenhao ( 7:11, 11:6, 11:6, 9:11, 11:6)
Fang Bo 0:3 Fan Zhendong (4:11, 8:11, 5:11)
Zhang Jike 1:3 Zhou Yu (8:11, 7:11, 11:5, 8:11)
Sichuan 3:2 Henan
Zhu Linfeng 3:1 Xia Yizheng (11:5, 8:11, 11:6, 11:9)
Xu Ruifeng 1:3 Ren Hao (9:11, 11:8, 12:14, 5:11)
Lai Jiaxin 0:3 Yu Heyi (9:11, 11:13, 11:13)
Zhu Linfeng 3:1 Ren Hao (13:15, 11:9, 11:6, 11:5)
Xu Ruifeng 3:2 Xia Yizheng (9:11, 11:6, 5:11, 11:8, 11:4)
Beijing 1:3 Guangdong (Full Match Part 1, 2)
Wang Chuqin 0:3 Lin Gaoyuan (7:11, 4:11, 10:12)
Ma Long 3:0 Zhou Qihao (11:8, 11:9, 11:9)
Yan An 1:3 Zhang Chao (4:11, 12:10, 6:11, 10:12)
Ma Long 2:3 Lin Gaoyuan (9:11, 12:10, 11:5, 12:14, 4:11)
Matches of Day 4 (31 August) (GMT8+)
We will have team semifinals tomorrow. Team Heilongjiang (led by Wang Manyu) will play against Hubei (led by Feng Yalan) and Team Beijing (led by Ding Ning) will play against Team Sichuan (led by Zhu Yuling). Team Beijing lost to Team Sichuan 1-3 at 2016 Chinese National Championships but Ding Ning did not compete in that match. Team Beijing will definitely be stronger with Ding Ning on the squad. It will be an exciting match to watch the 2 teams fighting for making the finals.
For the men's, Team Guangdong (led by Zhang Chao and Lin Gaoyuan) will be playing against Team Sichuan (led by 2017 Universiade men's champion members Zhu Linfeng and Lai Jiaxin). Team Guangdong is doing really good so far and should be able to win Team Sichuan but results at the Games is always unpredictable. Team Gunagdong won over Team Sichuan 3-2 at the preliminary tournament held in March without Lin Gaoyuan on the lineup.
The other semifinals will be a match between Shanghai and PLA. They were the finalist of the men's team final at 2013 National Games where PLA walked away with the titles winning 3-1. Gone are the 4 years, Wang Hao and Wang Liqin have retired from Team PLA and Team Shanghai respectively. Replacing them are young athletes, Xu Chenhao and Zhou Kai for Team PLA and Zhao Zihao and Peng Feilong for Team Shanghai. The 2 squads played against each other at the 2016 CTTSL and PLA won all the encounters. I think Team PLA has a slight edge over Team Shanghai as their no.3 player is stronger than the one in Team Shanghai. So Team Shanghai may play around the lineup to break the winning streak of Team PLA.
Day 4: August 31
10:00-13:00 Women's Team Semifinals (10:00 CCTV5)
- Sichuan (led by Zhu Yuling) Vs Beijing (led by Ding Ning)
15:00-18:00 Men's Team Semifinals (15:00 CCTV5) / (Replay: 19:00 CCTV5+)
- PLA (led by Fan Zhendong and Zhou Yu) Vs Shanghai (led by Xu Xin and Shang Kun)
You may find these interesting!
CNG introduction
Women's Team preview
Men's Team preview
Singels & Team (Knockout stage) preview
Their Goals
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