Ma Long led Shandong Luneng to the title tonight. Photo courtesy of the Chinese Table Tennis Association
BEIJING NEWS (Chief Reporter Sun Haiguang) - The 2022 Table Tennis Super League will end in Weihai on December 11, with a double-header battle between Shandong Luneng affecting the men's and women's titles. Ma Long led Shandong Luneng to a 3-1 win over Shandong Weiqiao in the men's team semifinals that ended last night, and will battle Shanghai Real Estate Group led by Fan Zhendong for the men's team title tonight.
This season, national table tennis team mainstay Wang Chuqin joined defending champion Shandong Weiqiao from Shandong Luneng. However, Shandong Weiqiao's overall strength has not been greatly improved this season due to the temporary suspension of starter Liang Jingkun.
Shandong Luneng dropped the first point in last night's first match when Ma Long/Yuan Lizen lost 0-3 to Ziyang/Zhou Qihao. But then, Shandong Luneng teenager Xu Yingbin came back from 0-2 down to beat Wang Chuqin 3-2 in the deciding game to 15-13. Xu defeated Wang 3-2 in the last eight of the men's team at the national championships last month.
Winning this marquee match makes it two wins in a row for Shandong Luneng. Ma Long first beat Zhou 3-0 and Xu beat Yu Ziyang 3-1 to help Shandong Luneng lock up a spot in the final 3-1.
Wang Chuqin failed to lead Shandong Weiqiao to the final. Photo courtesy of China Table Tennis Association
Ma Long is playing a doubleheader this season, partnering with young player Yuan Lizen in doubles. After last night's doubles loss, Ma Long admitted that he did not play very well, especially the two in the first three boards of communication, contact is not timely, seem more passive. However, after countless big scenes, Malone quickly adjusted, and then singles match zero Zhou Qihao, "normal play such a key field, win is also important."
Xu Yingbin, who took two points for Shandong Luneng, said after the game that the game with Wang Chuqin must be a disadvantage, the first two games were too conservative, resulting in a big score behind, "the back did not think so much, and finally spelled the game."
Today at 1:00, Shandong Luneng will compete with Shanghai Real Estate Group led by Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin for the men's team title. At 2 p.m., defending champion Shandong Luneng will face Shenzhen University team Chen Meng and Sun Yingsha in the women's team final.
