It's not about the age nor is it the playing style. The prowess of an athlete said it all. Sun Yingsha topples 3-time women's singles national champion Zhu Yuling to win her first women's singles national title. Whereas Hou Yingchao ends 19-year wait and wins his second men's singles national title.
Day 7 of the 2019 Chinese Nationals started with battles between the attacker and the defender. In the men's singles semifinals, defender Hou Yingchao took a convincing lead in the first 3 games over Zhou Qihao but it seemed that he ran out of fuel in the fourth making quite some unforced errors. Fortunately, he held his nerves and advanced to the finals with a 4-1 win.
Alternatively, Ma Te did not follow the footsteps of his fellow defender, even though he had played to his best trying not just chopping but playing forehand counter-loop and sudden backhand attacks. He came very close in the mesmerizing game 6 but Wang Chuqin was too consistent and powerful to beat and he lost 4-2.
The men's singles final was also a battle between attacker and defender. On the attacking side was Wang Chuqin who was vying for his first men's singles national title, while on the defending side was Hou Yingchao who won his men's singles national title 19 years ago (only athletes aged under 21 were allowed to compete at the 2000 Chinese nationals). Separated by an age gap of almost 2 decades, the battle of generations turned out to be a walk in the park for Hou Yingchao. His bending wide forehand loop, variations in spins and unpredictable sudden attacks put Wang Chuqin out of solutions and it was a definitive 4-0 victory for the defender.
The women's singles final between rising star Sun Yingsha and 3-time women's national champion resulted in a rather one-sided affair. Sun Yingsha was simply fast and furious, especially when she got to play her forehand. Although Zhu Yuling tried everything including playing pivot forehand, spiny shots and soft pushes near the net to hold Sun Yingsha up, these couldn't stop Sun Yingsha to romp to a straightforward 4-0 victory.
These conclude the singles events. The only events left in the Nationals are the team events which will be played in the next few days. This is the first time the new Olympic System is adopted at the Chinese Nationals. With much emphasis on the doubles match and the withdrawal of the top athletes. many believe the team competitions will be some closely contested ones that you definitely don't want to miss.
Catch Up:
Day 7 Matches
MS SF: Hou Yingchao vs Zhou Qihao
MS SF: Ma Te vs Wang Chuqin
WS Final: Sun Yingsha vs Zhu Yuling
MS Final: Wang Chuqin vs Hou Yingchao
You may be interested in:
Draws & Results (live scoring)
Mixed Doubles
Men's Singles
Women's Singles
Men's Team
Women's Team
AND The 2019 Chinese Nationals Guide provides an overview of the competition format, schedule, how you can watch and links related to the Chinese Nationals, so you won't have to miss a thing if you can't watch it all.
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