by Henry Chen
Shanghai broke their losing streak in the seventh round of the 2016 Chinese Super League on Saturday 5th November. The team in the battle, Shanghai secured a resounding victory against Shandong Luneng.
In the previous two rounds, Shanghai lost close encounters against Bazhou and Shandong Weiqiao; this losing streak ended in the latest round of the competition.
Shang Kun gave Shanghai a good start in the battle. He lost the opening game but immediately recovered to seal a three-one victory against Luneng’s main player, Fang Bo. Xu Xin played in the second match and established a lead for Shanghai. He defeated Zhang Yudong.
The tandem Zhao Zihao and Shang Kun ended the battle with a two-nil win against Hao Shuai and Zhang Chao. Shanghai is now tied with Shandong Luneng with four wins and three losses.
Meanwhile, Shandong Weiqiao played a successful match in the round as expected. Hosts, they secured their seventh consecutive win this season with a three-nil score. It is worth noting that Ma Long was challenged in his match against Yu Ziyang. He was stretched into a decider (9-11, 11-4, 12-10, 9-11, 7-3).
Bazhou, who also played as the hosts in the round posted a victory against Shenzhen. Liang Jingkun and Wang Chuqin supplied the necessary points to achieve the three-one win.
Unfortunately for Sichuan, they were not able to capitalise on their home advantage as they were against one of the most powerful teams this season, Bayi.
Sichuan’s tandem Yan Sheng and Xu Ruifeng won the doubles match for their side. However, Bayi’s ever reliable Fan Zhendong and Zhou Yu were indestructible. Fan Zhendong scored two points accounting the defeat of Xu Ruifeng and Zhu Linfeng.
Tianjin was also not successful in the round as hosts. They were beaten by their opponents from Jiangsu. Zheng Peifeng, Kong Lingxuan, and Cai Wei completed a three-one victory, thus disappointing the Tianjin crowd.
Saturday 5th November: Latest Super League Results
Saturday 5th November: Latest Super League Team Positions
Saturday 5th November: Latest Super League Averages