The team draw is announced! Followed by the preview of men's doubles, we will have a look at the women's team today! (check out the CNG intro, XD preview and WD preview and MD preview here).
The competition format of the women's team event is a little bit complex and different from other events as it consists of 2 stages: First stage (round robin system) and Final stage (knockout system).
In the first stage (round robin system), the teams will be divided into 4 groups of 4 teams (the top 4 teams in 2016 Chinese Nationals will be drawn into 4 separate different groups). The teams will be ranked according to the number of winning team matches. The best 2 teams in each group will qualify for the final stage.
In the final stage (knockout system), the winning team of each group will play against the second placed team of another group in a knockout quarterfinal format. The winning team and the second placed team from the same group will be drawn into the different halves of the main draw.
A team can have a maximum of 5 members and one of them must be a penholder but not necessarily from the same squad who played in the preliminary round.
Each team match consists of the best 3 out of 5 matches (New Swaythling Cup system, 5 singles). Each match is played in a best of 5 games format.
The top 12 teams qualified through the preliminary round held in late March will join the top 4 teams at 2016 Chinese Nationals to compete in the main draw of the Chinese National Games. The main draw for the first stage is shown below.
Group A is well deserved to be called as 'the Group of Death'. The pool consists of 2016 national women's team champion, Team Sichuan led by Zhu Yuling, Team Shandong the defending women's team champion with Chen Meng anchoring the team after the retirement of Li Xiaoxia and Team Hebei comprises of young stars Sun Yingsha and He Zhuojia. The 3 teams will be competing closely for the 2 spots to proceed to the next stage. While Team Shanghai lacking a star on the team might focus more on the participation rather than the outcomes.
Team Shanxi and Team Heilongjiang are definitely the contenders for making to the next stage in Group B. Team Shanxi was the 2016 national women's team runner-up. The team will be looking to some great performances from Wu Yang, the excellent chopper, and Li Xiaodan. Whereas Team Heilongjiang will rely on the performances of the young athletes, like Wang Manyu and Che Xiaoxi. The home team, Team Tianjin may be hoping that home advantage will bring them some luck to sneak through the competitive first stage. However, qualifying to the next stage is still a challenging task to the young team led by Liu Weishan and Mu Jingyu.
In Group C, Team Beijing is coming into the competition as the favourite. Their goal shouldn't be surviving stage 1 of the team event but ending up on the podium. The team has won, 5 out of 12, the most women's team champion at the Games.Despite the team is not as dominant as the days in 2005 and 2009, the team has a good blend of experienced players, Ding Ning and Sheng Dandan as well as upcoming youngsters, Guo Yuhan, Li Jiayuan and Sun Chen. Team PLA will be led by Mu Zi and Hu Limei, athletes with unconventional style. They should be capable of making top 2 in Group C but we will see whether the underdogs can play some surprising victories in the next stage.
The most unpredictable group, in my honest opinion, would be Group D. Team Liaoning has always been the strong and competitive team but fell short of clinching the gold in the past Games. With Chen Xingtong, Wen Jia and Li Jiayi on the team, Team Liaoning could easily qualify for the next stage. Team Jiangsu is formed by a team of promising young athletes. Chen Ke and Zhang Qiang showed up at Australia Open this year and did not lose to any non-Chinese players. Qian Tianyi and Shi Xunyao have proved themselves in various international junior competitions and Liu Fei will be playing in T2 APAC. Since members of Team Jiangsu are at a similar level, the team has the flexibility of playing around with the sequence of the lineup. However, consistency is a huge uncertainty for a young team and Team Hubei led by Feng Yalan might want to steal the spot of the next stage from Team Jiangsu.
In short, team champion is not about 1 person but the overall strength of a team. Team Shandong having the luxury of 4 A Team members on the team is a very strong squad and is looking to defend the champion. Team Beijing has the superstar Ding Ning who is capable of taking 2 points in the competition and some reliable players of winning a point and would be very likely making to the semifinals. Whereas for the other teams, it will come down to who has a better day.
Follow the Women's Team
The detailed competition schedule has announced (check the detailed schedule here). The women's team competition is scheduled from 28 August to 1 September and CCTV5 is very likely to broadcast the finals on 1 September. We will keep you updated as soon as the broadcast plan is announced.
Event Schedule (GMT+8)
Day 1: 28 August
10:00-13:00 Women's Team Stage 1 Round 1
19:00-22:00 Women's Team Stage 1 Round 2
Day 2: 29 August
14:30-17:30 Women's Team Stage 1 Round 3
Day 3: 30 August
14:00-17:00 Women's Team Quarterfinals
Day 4: 31 August
10:00-13:00 Women's Team Semifinals
Day 5: September 1
09:30-12:30 Women's / Men's Team Bronze Medal Match
14:00-17:30 Women's Team Final
Which team will be the champion-winning team? Comment below and let us know your thoughts! (anonymous comment is acceptable) For more updates, follow the blog by clicking the button on the right-hand column or check the official website of the Chinese National Games here. Last but not least, keep close to the blog for CNG Throwback and more previews!
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