Day 7 in Tianjin Hao Shuai and Wang Yidi / Yu Ziyang and Wang Manyu won gold medal in the mixed doubles. The top 8 of the men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles have come out today as well.
The mixed doubles semifinals continue on day 7. Hao Shuai and Wang Yidi won 4-3 over Fan Zhendong and Zhu Yuling in the semifinals. The left and right handed combination gives Hao Shuai and Wang Yidi an advantage over the right-handed pairs, Fan Zhendong and Zhu Yuling. They led 2 games at the start of the match while Fan Zhendong and Zhu Yuling are both very strong athletes and leveled the match at 3-3. The decisive 7th game was a very close match until 6-6 when Hao Shuai and Wang Yidi played an amazing shot (must-see shot IMO). They extended their lead and made to the finals. In the other semifinals, Yu Ziyang and Wang Manyu representing Heilongjiang defeated Zhou Yu and Mu Zi 4-2. They won over Hao Shuai and Wang Yidi and clinched their first National Games gold medal.
The round of 16 of the singles and doubles events started on day 7. There are not many surprises in the women's singles. Yet the match between He Zhuojia and Wang Yidi has some special meanings to the athletes. As the national team has a regulation that any table tennis athletes who placed top 8 at the National Games or Chinese National Championships can be promoted to the National A Team directly. Wang Yidi did not make to the required rankings in the internal competition between Team A and Team B and was demoted to Team B in February this year while He Zhuojia missed the chance for promoting to the A Team by 1 place in the same competition, trailing behind Sun Yingsha. Since it was the round of 16, whoever win the match will be promoted to Team A. At the end, Wang Yidi who also had a very great mixed doubles in the morning won the match 4-2.
The no.1 seeds and no.2 seeds of the men's doubles clean swept their opponents 3-0 while the others weren't. Liang Jingkun and Wang Chuqin bowed out at the first round with a 2-point margin at the 5th games. Liang Jingkun's last hope to prove himself at the National Games has vanished. It was a very disappointing result for Liang. Let's hope he can retain his composure and bounce back in the Austria Open 2017. Xue Fei and Zhao Daming, who placed third at 2016 Chinese Nationals in men's doubles, also halted their journey at the 13th Games in the first round, losing 1-3 to Henan duo, Yu Heyi and Wang Linkun.
In women's doubles, the only defensive pairs, Wu Yang and Hu Limei are out. They lost to Feng Yalan and Liu Gaoyang 0-3. Among the quarterfinalists of women's doubles, only Mu Zi used pips-out (short-pips for her backhand) the others are all using inverted rubber.
The men's singles is dramatic as usual. The headline news definitely about Zhang Jike's defeat at the round of 16 in men's singles. He lost 2-4 to Zhou Kai (PLA). Zhou Kai came up strong and had a 3-0 lead after 3 games. Zhang Jike fought hard and closed down the gap but it was not enough for him to win the match. Yan An has his right elbow heavily taped in the past few days and has a mediocre performance at the national games. After a sub-par performance at the team competition, he was defeated by Xia Yizheng 2-4 despite he led 2 games at the start.
Another match that I would like to highlight is the men's singles match between Wang Chuqin and Cheng Jingqi. Cheng Jingqi is a former national team member and was one of the final 12 who took part in the Chinese Trials for WTTC in 2014. Due to injuries and unsatisfying results in the internal competition, he was sent back to the provincial team in 2016. Although he has left the national team, he has been active in CTTSL and various competitions to maintain his competitiveness. He won over Wong Chun Ting last night and almost won Wang Chuqin tonight. At the decisive 7th games, Cheng took the match point leading 10-8 and had a match point at 11-10. When he was just a step away from winning the match and making back to Team A (as making the top 8 at national competition will qualify him to the A Team), he missed 3 points and lost the match. Wang Chuqin threw his racket in the air to celebrate the victory while Cheng Jingqi sat on the chair for quite a long time and used his towel to hide his disappointment. The unpredictability of sports competition makes sports captivating. At the same time it is very cruel to separate the winner and loser by just 2 points when they are just equally great. Yet that is life. Perhaps learning from disappointments and embracing that will make ones more mature and better.
Do you find there are too many matches undergoing at the same time? The National Games is known for its hectic competition schedule. Though the 13th Games has cancelled the 5th-8th place play-off this year, the intensity of the competition is still too much for many athletes. There are players using tapes to protect their muscles but some were forced to call for a medical timeout. Xu Xin's left shoulder injury is bothering him again (he used medical timeout in 2015 WTTC). We saw him having massage during breaks in team competitions but he called for a medical timeout at men's singles. After some treatment, he seemed to be better and won the match 4-2 against Zhou Qihao. Fang Bo also called for a medical timeout in the match against Hao Shuai. It was said that he hurt his knee during the competition. The medical timeout did not help Fang Bo to win the match and Hao Shuai proceeded to the quarterfinals winning Fang Bo 4-2.
The theme of the 13th National Games is 'National Games for a Healthy China'. The intention of doing sports is to improve one's health. Ironically, athletes are having injuries because of the overly packed schedule and high intensity of the competition at the National Games. A packed-schedule might allow audience to enjoy many competitions at a short period of time and may lower the cost for the organizer. However sacrificing athletes' health for those little benefits is not a reasonable trade. Athletes cannot play to their best when they are injured and exhausted. The responsibility of making competitive sport safe and healthy should not just lies with the athletes and coaches. Aside from training scientifically and smartly to reduce injuries and strengthen the body conditions of the athletes, other sectors such as sports equipment suppliers, competition organizer etc. should also consider ways to develop the sport to a healthy directions. The 13th Games has made some adjustments on the competition schedule but clearly it is not enough. The organizer must reflect on the competition intensity as well as their logistics to prevent athletes getting injured because of an unreasonable competition schedule.
Results of Day 7 (3 September)
Mixed Doubles
Mixed Doubles Semifinals
Fan Zhendong / Zhu Yuling 3-4 Hao Shuai / Wang Yidi
9-11, 11-3, 6-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8, 9-11
Yu Ziyang / Wang Manyu 4-2 Zhou Yu / Mu Zi (VIdeo: Fan Cam)
11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8
Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal Match
Fan Zhendong / Zhu Yuling Vs Zhou Yu / Mu Zi [Full Match]
11-8, 3-11, 11-7, 8-11, 14-12
Mixed Doubles Finals
Hao Shuai / Wang Yidi Vs Yu Ziyang / Wang Manyu [Full Match]
6-11, 11-6, 4-11, 3-11, 7-11
Women's Singles
Women's Singles Round of 16
Ding Ning 4:0 Wen Jia (11:8, 11:7, 11:2, 11:6) [Full Match]
Zhang Rui 0:4 Sun Yingsha (8:11, 2:11, 5:11, 7:11) (Video: Fan Cam)
Wang Manyu 4:1 Shang Yuanyuan (13:11, 9:11, 11:9, 11:9, 11:6)
Li Xiaodan 1:4 Zhu Yuling (9:11, 2:11, 1:11, 11:9, 5:11) [Full Match]
Liu Shiwen 4:2 Liu Gaoyang (11:9, 9:11, 11:3, 11:8, 11:13, 11:7) [Full Match]
Li Jiayi 1:4 Wu Yang (11:9, 3:11, 5:11, 5:11, 9:11)
He Zhuojia 2:4 Wang Yidi (7:11, 6:11, 11:9, 14:12, 6:11, 5:11)
Che Xiaoxi 0:4 Chen Meng (3:11, 8:11, 7:11, 5:11) [Full Match]
Men's Doubles
Men's Doubles Round of 16
Ma Long/Xu Xin 3:0 Wong Chun Ting/Ho Kwan Kit (11:7, 11:6, 11:5) [Full Match]
Fang Bo/Shang Kun 3:1 Lyu Xiang/Zhai Yujia (7:11, 11:3, 11:4, 11:4) [Video: Fan Cam]
Zhang Yudong/Sun Wen 3:2 Liang Jingkun/Wang Chuqin (5:11, 11:7, 6:11, 12:10, 11:9) [Video: Fan Cam]
Yu Heyi/Wang Linkun 3:1 Xue Fei/Zhao Daming (11:6, 11:9, 9:11, 11:7)
Ren Hao/Xia Yizheng 0:3 Liu Jikang/Hao Shuai (5:11, 4:11, 9:11)
Yan An/Lin Gaoyuan 3:2 Fan Shengpeng/Cheng Jingqi (14:12, 11:9, 9:11, 10:12, 11:3)
Xu Ruifeng/Yan Sheng 1:3 Zhu Cheng/Cai Wei (7:11, 5:11, 11:6, 6:11)
Wang Jianjun/Yin Jiaxu 0:3 Zhou Yu/Fan Zhendong (7:11, 4:11, 7:11) [Full Match]
Women's Doubles
Women's Doubles Round of 16
Ding Ning/Liu Shiwen 3:0 Sun Mingyang/Sun Wenlei (11:5, 11:8, 11:9) [Full Match]
Wang Yidi/Li Xiaodan 3:0 Zheng Shichang/Guo Yichen (11:6, 11:6, 11:6)
Sun Yingsha/Chen Ke 2:3 Gu Yuting/Mu Zi (7:11, 11:5, 4:11, 11:9, 8:11)
Fan Siqi/Yang Huijing 1:3 Wen Jia/Chen Xingtong (11:9, 5:11, 4:11, 6:11) (Video: Fan Cam)
Che Xiaoxi/Wang Manyu 3:0 Sheng Dandan/Yuan Xuejiao (11:9, 13:11, 11:7) (Video: Fan Cam)
Wu Yang/Hu Limei 0:3 Liu Gaoyang/Feng Yalan (3:11, 6:11, 6:11)
Li Jiayi/Lan Xi 3:1 Zhang Rui/Guo Yan (7:11, 11:8, 11:8, 11:9)
Li Jiayuan/Sun Chen 1:3 Zhu Yuling/Chen Meng (7:11, 8:11, 11:7, 7:11) [Full Match]
Men's Singles
Men's Singles Round of 16
Ma Long 4:0 Zhang Chao (11:2, 11:7, 11:9, 11:9) [Full Match]
Liu Dingshuo 0:4 Ma Te (6:11, 7:11, 9:11, 8:11)
Cheng Jingqi 3:4 Wang Chuqin (7:11, 11:8, 6:11, 4:11, 11:8, 13:11, 11:13) [last point]
Zhou Kai 4:2 Zhang Jike (12:10, 11:8, 11:9, 7:11, 11:13, 14:12) [Full Match]
Xu Xin 4:2 Zhou Qihao (11:3, 11:9, 7:11, 11:6, 5:11, 11:5)[Full Match]
Hao Shuai 4:2 Fang Bo (12:10, 9:11, 9:11, 12:10, 14:12, 13:11) (Video: Fan Cam)
Yan An 2:4 Xia Yizheng (11:5, 11:7, 8:11, 9:11, 5:11, 4:11)
Liu Jikang 0:4 Fan Zhendong (5:11, 6:11, 8:11, 8:11) [Full Match]
Matches of Day 8 (4 September) (GMT+8)
Table tennis in Tianjin continues on day 8 with 4 events, men's doubles, women's doubles, women's singles and men's singles. In men's doubles, the no.1 seed will play against Fang Bo and Shang Kun which is a very competitive doubles. Catch the match at 10:00 (GMT+8) on CCTV5. The women's doubles is a very level playing field. Let's see whether the top seeds can make their ways to the semifinals. 16 year-old Sun Yingsha will be playing against Ding Ning again. One of her dream is to defeat Ding Ning. Sun Yingsha is still very young and inexperience as compare to Ding Ning but anything can happen at the Games. Who knows it won't be a surprising result? Zhang Jike the no.4 seed is out, leaving 2 young athletes, Wang Chuqin and Zhou Kai competing for the spot at the semifinals. As in the past national games any young athletes who made to the podium at the singles event had a very high chance of being at next year's World Team Championships. It is a chance for the 2 youngsters to make their name out there. The following is the scheduled match that CCTV is going to show.
Day 8: September 4
10:00-11:00 Men's Doubles Quarterfinals (10:00 CCTV 5)
- Ma Long / Xu Xin Vs Fang Bo / Shang Kun [Full Mtch]
- Fan Zhendong / Zhou Yu Vs Cai Wei / Zhu Cheng [Full Match]
11:00-12:00 Women's Doubles Quarterfinals(10:00 CCTV 5)
- Ding Ning / Liu Shiwen Vs Wang Yidi / Li Xiaodan [Full Match]
- Li Jiayi / Lan Xi Vs Zhu Yuling / Chen Meng [Full Match]
19:00-19:45 Women's Singles Quarterfinals
19:45-20:30 Men's Singles Quarterfinals
- Ma Long Vs Ma Te (Wuxing Sport)
20:30-21:15 Women's Singles Quarterfinals
- Chen Meng Vs Wang Yidi (21:00Wuxing Sport )
21:15-22:00 Men's Singles Quarterfinals (21:00 CCTV 5)
- Fan Zhendong Vs Xia Yizheng
You may find these articles related
CNG introduction
Women's Doubles preview
Men's Doubles preview
The Seeds (Singles Event)
Singels & Team (Knockout stage) preview
Their Goals
It is weekday tomorrow and I will be only free at night. Therefore I won't be making updates as frequent as the past 2 days (weekends), BUT I will keep making the daily updates on the blog and probably a few updates when I am free. Follow the blog and let us know your views in the comment box below.
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