At the WTT Champions Montpellier, China’s Liang Jingkun and Xiang Peng secured their spots in the second round of the men’s singles competition.
Second seed Liang Jingkun faced a tough challenge against France’s Jules Rolland in a thrilling five-game match. Liang took the first two games 11-7, 15-13, showing his dominance early on. However, Rolland, energized by the cheers of the home crowd, fought back to win the third game 11-7.
In the fourth game, Liang quickly gained a 5-0 lead and was up 10-7, but Rolland staged an impressive comeback, winning 12-10 after saving three game points. Despite the setback, Liang maintained his composure and clinched the deciding game 11-5, securing his victory. He will next face Japan’s Shunsuke Togami in the round of 16.
Meanwhile, China’s Xiang Peng delivered a strong performance by defeating Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko in straight games. The 21-year-old Chinese player proved himself a rising star when he reached the WTT China Smash semifinals earlier this month, beating France’s Felix Lebrun and Sweden’s Truls Moregard, who both medaled at the Paris Olympics.
Xiang dominated the match against Gerassimenko, winning the first two games 11-5, 11-5. He secured the third game 11-9 when the Kazakh player hit wide. Xiang will next meet the winner of the French derby between Lebrun and Simon Gauzy.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com