The Chinese Table Tennis Super League (CTTSL) is arguably known as the toughest league in table tennis. Though ethnically non-Chinese players are not welcomed to the league in 2017, the men and women at the league are some of the best table tennis players in the world. This season, the league started off in a haste, in late October 2017 after the Chinese National Games. The competition format was cut down to a double round robin, a total of 18 rounds, to fit the tight table tennis calendar. Many worried that the season would turn out less exciting without the play-off stage but it ended up an intriguing one.
The Champion
Shandong Weiqiao is rock solid this season despite the loss of Ma Long, who has transferred to Tianjin Quanjian under the policy of 2017 CTTSL. The team has led the leaderboard from the very first round and was defeated by 1 team (Shandong Luneng) only half-way through the season, after 9 rounds and earned the 2017/2018 CTTSL title with 14 wins and 4 losses (2 Shandong Luneng, 1 Bayi Dashang and 1 Shanghai Zhongxing). Lin Gaoyuan's performance is impressive throughout the season. In fact, he is third (22 wins and 5 losses) in the individual's ranking trailing Fan Zhendong and Ma Long. Of course, the team success cannot be done without the collaboration of Yan An, Xue Fei, Xia Yizheng, Ng Pak Nam and their coach Yin Xiao.
Must-watch match: Round 13: Shandong Weiqiao 3-2 Bazhou Hairun (Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Must-watch match: Round 9: Wuhan Hundred Percent 3-2 Shandong Luneng (Part 1, 2, 4, 5)
The Most-Valued Player (MVP)
Apart from the team title, players with the highest ranking after the entire season will be awarded the most-valued player award. At most of the time, the award will be presented to 1 male and 1 female player but there will be 2 men (Fan Zhendong and Ma Long) and 1 woman (Liu Shiwen) for this year because Fan Zhandong and Ma Long scored the same (to the 13 decimal places) after 18 rounds. Since there is no tie-breaker policy for the MPV award, CTTSL decided to present the award to the 2 outstanding male players and they will not need to share the prize money. Perhaps this is the best way to end this season and a big pocket money for the upcoming Chinese New Year.
Some observant fans may find Ma Long has a better win/loss ratio than Fan Zhendong but how come they end up scoring the same? Thanks to the complicated scoring system which favours players who win over opponents of a higher ranking. To make it short, Fan Zhendong won over tougher players while Ma Long won more players but they may not be the hard ones to beat. In the end, the 2 top players in the world and on the Chinese national team have the same score, by coincidence, after 18 rounds and share the MPV award.
Watch Round 12: Fan Zhendong Vs Ma Long
Liu Shiwen, in spite of injuries, has a staggering record of 28 wins and 2 losses (Chen Meng and Mu Zi) leading the second place, Wang Manyu, over 38 points. Competitions are intense at a high-level league like CTTSL but what makes winning even harder for veteran like Liu Shiwen is the demanding competition schedule, 2 matches per week (with breaks due to a world tour and other international competitions). Many agree that a packed competition schedule is unfavourable to senior athletes who take a longer time to recover but the MVP award assured that the 27-year-old is still very competitive of winning even though the competition schedule is demanding.
Watch Round 9: Liu Shiwen Vs Zhu Yuling
The Hopes and Legends
These are athletes who did not end up on the champion team or the MVP award but they stood out in the 2017/2018 CTTSL season.
Xu Xin represents Shanghai Zhongxing, a club lacks of depth with Shang Kun being transferred to Shandong Luneng, this season. This means he had to take up more responsibility to carry the team. The season started off a bit of crooked for him and catching a cold half-way through the season made it from bad to worse. This is also the reason for the 4th place from last year ended up at 8th place this year. However, Xu Xin seems to have acquired some new skills and have more confidence in his backhand.
Watch Round 12: Xu Xin Vs Lin Gaoyuan
Watch Round 14: Xu Xin Vs Ma Long
Liang Jinkun was expected to climb up the ranks within the team and became, perhaps, the next top Chinese player. Yet his appalling performance at the World Tour in 2017 had let the national coaches down. At 2017/2018 CTTSL, he led the inexperienced, young team to the 4th place and made his way to the 4th place as well on the individuals' ranking. Had he earned the trust from the national coaching team, his performance in this league was eye-catching.
Watch Round 15: Liang Jingkun Vs Ma Long
Beijing Shougang had a small but ambitious goal, making top 3, in this season. The team fell short from meeting the goal but young players from the team should have learned a lot from the team under the leadership of Ding Ning. Ding Ning has been juggling between rehabilitation and competitions throughout the league season and did not play to the full of her potential. She decided to walk over the last 2 rounds to spare time for preparing the more important 2018 Team World Cup coming up on 22 February. Although Ding Ning was not extensively competing in every round, she was quintessential to the team as she has passed down experience and has been a role model to the young athletes on the team.
Watch Round 14: Ding Ning Vs Feng Yalan
It's rare that a team is truly happy to end up third but a third place is about the best result Changbai Mountain RCB can hope for. Depth is a problem for the team and the team had to give up 2 points in round 3 because Wang Manyu hurt her back right before the competition. It is a big hit for a team lacks of depth but Wang Manyu recovered quickly and took the team came in third surpassing many strong contenders. She also placed second on the individual rankings with an overall 23 wins and 6 losses, behind Liu Shiwen.
Watch Round 15: Wang Manyu Vs Chen Xingtong
Happy or not, the league is a great experience for athletes to polish their technique and help them to pursue their table tennis dream. While some decided to end their journey of table tennis after the league. Sheng Dandan from Beijing Shougang announced her retirement on Weibo after the league. Her teammates and close friend Ding Ning wishes Sheng Dandan all the best in the new page of her life.
Final Standings
Source: CTTSL
Comment below about your thoughts on 2017/2018 CTTSL. I hope you have enjoyed the 2017/2018 CTTSL. Visit our 2017 CTTSL Guide which has links to the full results of each round and information about the league. Updates will be made once there is more news about the next season and other table tennis events. As for now, I wish you all a happy Chinese New Year, and good health and good fortune in the Year of the Dog.
Thank you for posting coverage of the CTTSL. I enjoyed it very much, particularly the trivia on the players and coaches.
ReplyDeleteThank you sui4bi3! I am glad that you enjoyed the articles. Let me know if you find anything on this blog that needs to be improved.
DeleteGreat Coverage! *✲ﾟ*。✧٩(·ิᴗ·ิ๑)۶*✲ﾟ*。✧
ReplyDeleteThank you Zest Light. I am glad you like it. Let me know if you feel like something on this blog needs improvement or you can tell me what do you like about this blog. I will try my best to make better posts.
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