The team event of the China National Table Tennis Championships is contested among the different Chinese provinces. As ever, the competition is sky-high with several stellar names taking part at the event, which is being held at the Weihai Nanhai Olympic Center, in Weihai, Shandong province.
CHEN MENG & SUN YINGSHA STAR IN WOMEN’S TEAM EVENT
Shandong is being represented in the women’s team final after they defeated Jiangsu province 3-1 in Saturday’s semi-final. World #1 Chen Meng was the star of the show with two straight-games victories.
Jiangsu 1-3 Shandong
Liu Fei 2-3 Gu Yuting
Shi Xunyao 0-3 Chen Meng
Qian Tianyi 3-0 Wang Xiaotong
Liu Fei 0-3 Chen Meng
Shandong will face Hebei in the final after the latter overcame Sichuan province in the tightest of contests. World #3 Sun Yingsha’s victory over world #7 Zhu Yuling proved crucial in the overall outcome.
Sichuan 2-3 Hebei
Zhu Yuling 3-0 He Zhuojia
Yang Huijing 0-3 Sun Yingsha
Fan Siqi 3-0 Zang Xiaotong
Zhu Yuling 1-3 Sun Yingsha
Yang Huijing 0-3 He Zhuojia
“Our whole team played well today. He Zhuojia put in a good performance. We prepared well before the match and played at our best level. Now we will go all out to face the defending champion. We are confident.” – Sun Yingsha
MA LONG & LIN GAOYUAN LEAD TEAMS TO FINAL SHOWDOWN
Reigning World and Olympic champion, world #3 Ma Long, spearheaded the Beijing team to a comfortable 3-0 victory over the hosts Shandong. The match also saw 20-year-old talent Wang Chuqin defeat Fang Bo, who was a silver medallist at the 2015 World Championships men’s singles event.
Beijing 3-0 Shandong
Ma Long 3-0 Yu Ziyang
Wang Chuqin 3-2 Fang Bo
Liu Yebo 3-2 Liu Dingshuo
Hoping to upset the capital city outfit in Sunday’s men’s team final are Guangdong province. They defeated Hubei in their semi-final thanks to a double success for world #5 Lin Gaoyuan.
Guangdong 3-1 Hubei
Lin Gaoyuan 3-0 Xue Fei
Zhou Qihao 3-1 Ma Te
Zhang Chao 0-3 Xi Sheng
Lin Gaoyuan 3-0 Ma Te
You can watch both finals LIVE on the ITTF’s Facebook and YouTube channels:
Women’s team final (15:00 local / 07:00 GMT) – Shandong vs Hebei
Men’s team final (19:00 local / 11:00 GMT) – Beijing vs Guangdong