At the 2024 Doha Star Challenge, Fan Zhendong, the No. 1 seed in men’s singles, eliminated Germany’s Francesca with a score of 3-1 in his debut without a fight and advanced to the top 16 of men’s singles. On this match day, singles The quarter-finals were in full swing, and Fan Zhendong met South Korea's main player Lin Zhongxun. The latter had to fight hard for five rounds in the last round before he defeated Hong Kong veteran Huang Zhenting. Because Xiaopang had crushed several of the main players of the Korean team. The winning rate has also led many fans to give him the nickname of Anti-Korean Pioneer. As long as he can perform at a normal level, it is not difficult for Fan Zhendong to avenge the provincial team! Sure enough, after the game started, Fan Zhendong completely suppressed Lin Zhongxun on both offense and defense. He did not give his opponent too many opportunities throughout the game. In the end, he won with a big score of 3-1 and advanced to the men's singles quarterfinals!
First game:
Since the two players were very familiar with each other, there was no testing after the first game started, and they directly opened up their stances for hand-to-hand combat. However, Fan Zhendong obviously had an obvious advantage in the quality of the boards, and It is also very tactical. In the return and return process, Lin Zhongxun gave Lin Zhongxun a long ball in the middle to increase the difficulty of the opponent's return, and then directly slashed the diagonal line from a large angle. After achieving his tactical goal, Fan Zhendong gradually established a 5-1 lead. .
Seeing that the game was quite satisfactory and there was no hope of winning at all, Lin Zhongxun began to fight for the rhythm on the first three boards. The sudden change of rhythm also caught Xiaopang a little unprepared. However, after Lin Zhongxun chased the score to 4-6, Fan Zhendong regained it. Taking the initiative, they once again widened the point difference and took the lead 11-6.
Second game:
Lin Zhongxun, who lost the first game, played more aggressively in the second game. He tried his best to increase the quality of every shot and forcefully pushed back, but he still couldn't take advantage of Fan Zhendong. On the other hand, Xiaopang can easily tear apart Lin Zhongxun's defense whether he is grabbing sideways with his forehand or rushing with his backhand. He scored 4 points in a row as soon as he started, and the Korean main player also had a look of despair.
After Lin Zhongxun played several good quality fights and chased for 2 points, Fan Zhendong started the hanging mode again, with another wave of 4-0, extending his lead to 8-2. Although Lin Zhongxun did not give up, At one point, the score difference was only 2 points, but Fan Zhendong did not give him a chance to come back and scored another victory 11-9.
The third game:
Lin Zhongxun, who was forced into a desperate situation, wanted to break through Fan Zhendong's backhand in the third game. He was determined and fast in the opening stage, which also allowed him to cling to the score and fight Xiaopang to a 2-level score. However, in the third game, Fan Zhongxun After Zhendong strengthened his backhand defense, he began to take over the game. After scoring 2 points in a row to take a 4-2 lead, he directly stopped Lin Zhongxun. After the game restarted, Lin Zhongxun launched a desperate fight and tenaciously tied the score with 11 -9 struggled to regain a game.
The fourth game:
failed to sweep the opponent. In addition to Lin Zhongxun’s outstanding backhand performance, it was also related to Fan Zhendong’s slackness. In order to prevent his opponent from dragging the game into the decisive game, Fan Zhendong played even harder in the fourth game. Cautious, with Lin Zhongxun leading 2-0 at the beginning, he launched a wave to reverse the situation. Although the tenacious Lin Zhongxun regained the lead with 7-6 in the middle game, Fan Zhendong withstood the pressure and locked in 12-10 victory.
After winning this battle between China and South Korea, Fan Zhendong reached the top eight of the men's singles. In the next round of quarter-finals, Xiaopang will have a national table tennis derby match against a talented boy. Lin Shidong, the latter defeated the Slovenian star Darko Jocic in a game that ended earlier. I hope the two can give the fans a wonderful showdown!
