Table Tennis Asian Championships: Chinese team trails Japan 0-2, Wang Chuqin defeated by 18-year-old rising star, Liang Jingkun also loses

On October 14 Beijing time, the Table Tennis Asian Championships are heating up with the men's team semifinals underway. China and Japan clashed fiercely, resulting in a surprising outcome where both Liang Jingkun and Wang Chuqin were defeated. Liang Jingkun battled through five sets but fell 2-3 to Tomokazu Harimoto, and Wang Chuqin was shockingly beaten 2-3 by 18-year-old Matsushima Hikaru. Now, China trails Japan 0-2, and losing one more match means elimination. It's truly astonishing. The biggest question now is whether the Chinese team can pull off a dramatic comeback from 0-2 down to win 3-2?

The Chinese men's team aims to claim the championship this tournament. In yesterday's quarterfinals, although Lin Shidong was unexpectedly defeated 2-3 by 15-year-old Faraji, China still won 3-1 over Iran. Today, they face a stronger Japanese team. Unlike singles, the team event favors China's overall strength, so before the match many expected China to advance to the final without much trouble. However, the start was terrible, losing the first two matches 0-2 and falling into a dire situation. Let's take a closer look!

Liang Jingkun started the first match against Tomokazu Harimoto, a tough opponent especially skilled against Chinese players. Liang was under great pressure. The two engaged in a marathon battle, fiercely contested with every set decided by crucial points. Although Liang twice came back from behind to even the score, he ultimately lost the deciding set. The final score was 2-3 with set scores of 10-12, 13-11, 11-13, 11-9, and 9-11—extremely tight. This left China unexpectedly trailing 0-1!

Wang Chuqin was the second to play against 18-year-old rising star Matsushima Hikaru. Wang was clearly the stronger player, having recently defeated him at the Beijing Grand Slam. Expectations were high for Wang to win again. But reality was harsh—Wang played poorly, hesitating to attack and staying behind in points. Although he pushed the match to a fifth set at 2-2, in the final set Wang rushed and made multiple errors trying to finish quickly, eventually losing 2-3. The set scores were 11-8, 4-11, 10-12, 11-9, and 7-11!

With this, the Chinese men's team is down 0-2 to Japan, a very unfavorable position and a surprising turn of events. Whether a miracle can happen remains to be seen. All eyes are on Lin Shidong, who now must win the third match under immense pressure!

Written by / Sports Novel

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