by Henry Chen
Shandong Luneng welcomed their opponents from Shandong Weiqiao for the eighth round of the Men’s Chinese Super League.
The battle started with an intense match coming from the host’s Fang Bo and the reigning Olympic champion Ma Long. Fang Bo lost the first two games but fought hard to force a decider. He had the opportunity but Ma Long denied his opponent.
Fang Bo was beaten in five games by the Olympic champion (11-5, 12-10, 11-13, 7-11, 7-4).
The second match was between Hao Shuai and Lin Gaoyuan. Hao Shuai immediately imposed his control but the younger opponent slowly worked his way to recovery. It was another close encounter which favoured the visitors.
Fang Bo and Zhang Chao tried to secure the doubles but Xue Fei and Lin Gaoyuan had the advantage.
In the end, Shandong Luneng was beaten three-nil by Weiqiao.
The Bayi Team is definitely unstoppable in this season’s Chinese Super League. On home soil, the main players of the team did not fail their home crowd. Each player contributed to another powerful victory.
Zhou Yu started with a straight games success which was followed by another crushing performance from Fan Zhendong. The 19-year old leader of the team beat Liu Ying (11-3, 11-1, 11-5). Success in the doubles, Bayi secured a three-nil win.
The Shanghai Team played were visitors against Shenzhen. Xu Xin and Shang Kun both played a crucial role for Shanghai; thanks to their efforts, they upset the home crowd with a three-one victory. Xu Xin defeated Ren Hao and Liu Jikang.
Notably, the Bazhou Team also caused an upset in the round. Fan Shengpeng, Liang Jingkun, Zhai Chao, and Cheng Jingqi, beat the hosts, Tianjin.
The Jiangsu Team completed the list of victorious teams in the eighth round of the competition. They defeated Sichuan. Jiangsu’s foreign star Chuang Chih-Yuan pulled beat Zhu Linfeng.
Tuesday 8th November: Latest Super League Results
Tuesday 8th November: Latest Super League Team Positions
Tuesday 8th November: Latest Super League Averages