13th Chinese National Games: Women's Doubles Preview

Last week, we introduced you to the mixed doubles, an event which you can enjoy the men's style and women's style in one go. Now let's move on to the women's doubles (catch up the CNG intro and XD preview here).

Competition Format

The women's doubles event will consist of a knockout format, starting from the round of 16. Every match is played under a best of 5 games format except the semifinals and finals which will be played under a best of 7 games format.

The Draw

The top 16 pairs of women's doubles at the preliminary round qualify for the main round of the Chinese National Games. The main draw is based on the order of the preliminary round held in late March.

Are we going to see a replica of the women's doubles finals of 2017 WTTC in the Chinese National Games? The 2017 Worlds women's doubles finalists Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen, Zhu Yuling and Chen Meng are listed as the no.1 and no.2 seeds in this tournament and are very much expected to reach the finals. As they are experienced with their partnership started since 2013; they are accomplished, winning  numerous medals at international competitions. However table tennis is always unpredictable and we can always expect greater things at the Chinese National Games.

The 2 pairs have played head-to-head at the WTTC for 2 times and more at World Tours. 7-game matches were played in the 2 times at Worlds and Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen won all of them. Will the younger pairs make a breakthrough in Tianjin? Let's re-visit the 2017 WTTC women's doubles final before the Games starts!

Challenging the no.1 seed at the top half of the draw, there are Wen Jia and Chen Xingtong, the pairs from Liaoning who won 2016 Chinese Nationals women's doubles champion. However the doubles representing Liaoning has to win over the winners of the match between young combination, Sun Yingsha and Chen Ke, and the runner-up of 2015 Chinese Nationals, Gu Yuting and Mu Zi in order to challenge for the title.

Gu Yuting and Mu Zi competed at 2015 China Open where they placed second in the women's doubles behind their compatriots, Liu Shiwen and Chen Meng. The pairs did not play doubles together in 2016, so let's see whether they will regain their competitiveness this year. Gu Yuting and Mu Zi are capable of playing  aggressive forehand, if they are consistent, they can be a tough one to beat. Here is the women's doubles final at 2015 China Open. 

In the bottom half of the draw, it will be interesting to see how far can the choppers make. Wu Yang and Hu Limei are the only pairs to play defensive style in the women's doubles and will play against Liu Gaoyang and Feng Yalan the pairs who collaborated in 2016 CTTSL. Last but not least, look out for Che Xiaoxi and Wang Manyu, representing Heilongjiang as they placed 3rd at 2016 Chinese Nationals women's doubles competition.

The mixed-province partnership may not have that many chances to train together for the doubles but some have played together at 2016 CTTSL. Here is a match between Chen Xingtong and Wen Jia and Feng Yalan and Liu Gaoyang at 2016 CTTSL. Watch the point at 1:20 amazing resilience from the pairs which we will see more in the Games.

With the introduction of the mixed-provinces policy, athletes can teamed up regardless of the provinces they represent. The up side of the policy is that athletes can choose the perfect partner with less limitations but the down side may be having less chances to train together as they train in different provincial teams. Fortunately most mixed-provinces pairs have collaborated in either international or national competitions so training apart may not be a huge problem for them. The top 2 seeds are almost deemed that they will make to the finals but the last spot of the podium is pretty wide open. Who knows whether there will be some surprising defeats? 

Follow the Women's Doubles

The detailed competition schedule has announced (check the detailed schedule here). The women's doubles competition is scheduled on 3-5 September and CCTV5 is very likely to broadcast the finals on 5 September. We will keep you updated as soon as the broadcast plan are announced.

Event Schedule

Day 7: September 3
15:30-16:30 Women's Doubles Round of 16

Day 8: September 4
11:00-12:00 Women's Doubles Quarterfinals

Day 9: September 5
10:00-11:30 Women's Doubles Semifinals
19:00-19:30 Women's Doubles Bronze Medal Match
20:00-20:45 Women's Doubles Finals


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. Feel free to comment below (anonymous comment is acceptable) and let us know who do you think will walk away with the women's doubles title!