News on March 16th, Beijing time, it is now mid-March. With the gradual advancement of the schedule, the Table Tennis Singapore Grand Slam, a major heavyweight event in the international table tennis world in March, has entered its final stage. After successive eliminations, except for the Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha combination that has successfully reached the top in the mixed doubles event, the national table tennis players are about to launch the final impact in the remaining four events.
In the singles event, compared to the two main players of the National Table Tennis Men’s Team who are still facing challenges from strong players from foreign associations, the National Table Tennis Women’s Team has completed its team goal of winning the championship ahead of schedule, and the rest is a competition within the team. . It is worth mentioning that during the process of the four golden flowers of the national table tennis team advancing to the semi-finals, one person encountered a strong counterattack from an old enemy in the past and once fell into a desperate situation of 0-2. However, this unexpected difficulty did not faze her, and the horn of the Jedi counterattack sounded!
In the women's singles quarter-finals of the Grand Slam tournament, national table tennis player Wang Manyu and Japanese table tennis player Mima Ito met. Let’s talk about Wang Manyu first. In the latest singles world rankings, Wang Manyu has returned to the top three in the world without any surprise. According to the requirements of the national table tennis team, he is also the No. 3 main player. Now she is the third main player of the national table tennis women's team. She did not play many times due to ranking restrictions in the team competition. Now she is back in the top three and is well deserved. In this Grand Slam event, Wang Manyu also encountered certain impacts in foreign competitions. The Indian player Akula in the first match had a certain impact on Wang Manyu due to his special playing style. Fortunately, Wang Manyu withstood the test. Afterwards, she passed all the way, and on the stage of the semi-finals, she met her old rival Mima Ito.
Japanese table tennis player Mima Ito is currently ranked 12th in the world. She has fallen out of the top ten in singles and is no longer as fierce and majestic as she was in the last cycle. Even now, she is still the only player in the Japanese women's table tennis team with an Olympic title. Without the pressure of the Paris Olympic selection, Mima Ito's desire for victory is not as good as before. Judging from her social updates, her mentality is relaxed. Quite a few. Although Mima Ito's competitive strength has gradually fallen behind Hina Hayata and Miu Hirano, her results are still quite stable. Except for the national table tennis matches, she has always maintained a high winning rate against other associations. Mima Ito has played against Wang Manyu many times before, and Wang Manyu has a clear advantage. At this stage, it is not easy for Ito to pose a clear threat to Wang Manyu, who is in the critical stage of qualifying for the Olympics.
In this game, in the first set, Mima Ito's speed play quickly appeared, and the offensive momentum was very strong. Wang Manyu, who was defensive and counterattacking, could not keep up with Ito's rhythm in the first three boards, and lost points quickly and was passive. In the first set, Mima Ito penetrated the right half of Manyu's table, and Manyu's start was a bit shaky. Mima Ito's forehand attack gave no chance, withstood Wang Manyu's momentum of chasing points, and took the lead to win 11-9. In the second set, Mima Ito continued her fierce offensive from the previous set, with both speed and power. Wang Manyu couldn't find a breakthrough when serving. The head coach Ma Lin on the sidelines was also nervously watching the changes in the situation. It is estimated that Coach Ma did not expect that the difficulties encountered would exceed expectations. In the end, Mima Ito won again 11-8, holding a two-set lead, and Wang Manyu was forced into a desperate situation.
At the beginning of the third set, Wang Manyu, who was unable to retreat, improved her condition. She adapted to Ito's serve and began to exert strength. She limited Ito's backhand bounce by strengthening the rotation, and returned the favor with 11-5. In the fourth set, Wang Manyu continued to pursue the situation. Mima Ito began to make mistakes, and the number of frequent retreats increased. Wang Manyu finally exerted his force from the back end, and his aggressive offensive was unusually fast, and he immediately won 11-7. In the fifth set, Wang Manyu and Mima Ito got into a score battle. At the critical moment, coach Ma Lin called a timeout, which stopped Ito's scoring momentum. Then Wang Manyu, who returned to the table, worked hard and won again 11-7. In the final set, Wang Manyu, who was full of momentum, could fight no matter how hard he fought. Mima Ito was unable to make a comeback even if he tried his best. Wang Manyu ended the suspense of the game with 11-9, and finally reversed Mima Ito 4-2, and was able to go from 0-2. Falling behind until winning 4 games in a row, this is Wang Manyu.
With Wang Manyu's smooth progress, the outside world once again saw her strong resilience when fighting foreign wars. Reaching the semifinals this time is considered to have completed the competition task. Referring to the undefeated standard announced by coach Ma Lin, Wang Manyu is qualified this time and has not been deducted points. Considering that every time Wang Manyu is drawn into a group, there is a high probability that he will encounter strong players from foreign associations, but fortunately, what Wang Manyu is best at is fighting in foreign wars! Only by being able to compete against more major competitors can Wang Manyu remain invincible in the competition for Olympic qualifications while meeting the selection requirements of the coaching staff. I am very much looking forward to her future development, so keep up the good work!
