Chinese paddlers Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu have set up an all-China women’s singles final at the WTT Champions Incheon, securing the title for China on Saturday. In the men’s competition, Liang Jingkun advanced to the final and will face Brazil’s Hugo Calderano, who upset China’s Fan Zhendong.
World No.1 Sun Yingsha cruised past teammate Wang Yidi in straight games 4-0 (11-9, 11-9, 12-10, 11-7). Second seed Wang Manyu overcame fourth seed Chen Meng 4-2 (11-5, 13-15, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-3) to secure her spot in the final.
“I played normally throughout the match and dealt well with the pace and the drop points. I will go all out and show the best of myself in the final,” Sun said after her victory.
In the quarterfinals earlier, Sun had edged past Japan’s fifth seed Hina Hayata 3-2, while Wang Manyu secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Austria’s Sofia Polcanova in just 21 minutes.
In the men’s competition, Liang Jingkun earned a hard-fought victory against third seed and Olympic champion Ma Long, winning 4-3 (11-5, 11-8, 11-13, 5-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7).
“After notching two wins at the beginning, I sort of started to leave things to chance and luck, and as a result, I lost the following three games. Then I quickly adjusted my mentality and fought hard point by point and finally sealed the victory,” Liang said.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Hugo Calderano stunned China’s top seed Fan Zhendong with a 4-2 victory (11-6, 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 8-11, 11-5).
“It was really important to start 3-0 up. It’s really hard for anyone to come back from 3-0 down. But of course, there’s one reason why he’s one of the best in the world, so I knew he could come back, and I just had to keep cool, keep fighting, keep playing my level, good tactics and good variation,” Calderano said.
The finals promise to be thrilling encounters, with China guaranteed the women’s singles title, while the men’s final will see an exciting face-off between Liang Jingkun and Hugo Calderano.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
