On the evening of 25th March, the National Games Table Tennis Qualifying Tournament (Adult Group) ushered in a focus of the duel, the two world champions Hao Shuai, Chen Xingtong, respectively, with Liu Weishan, Xu Haidong partner to play in the Mixed Doubles 1/16 finals, the results of the two sides fought 5 games Xu Haidong / Chen Xingtong 3-2 narrowly won the deciding game only won 2 points, thus locking up the main round of the ticket, and Hao Shuai / Liu Weishan, although defeated, but still have the opportunity to ‘resurrect’, will then participate in the play-offs, the win can be successful breakthrough from the qualification – see below for details. Hao Shuai/Liu Weishan lost, but still have a chance to be ‘resurrected’, and will play a play-off match to break through from the qualifying rounds – see below for more details.
Hao Shuai was born in 1983, the same age as current Chinese table tennis team head coach Wang Hao, and rose to fame at almost the same time, although their subsequent development was very different, but both eventually realised their dream of becoming world champions. Hao has been competing in China and Japan in recent years, and together with his teammates they helped the Tianjin men’s team to qualify for the National Games, before pushing for a place in the mixed doubles.
Chen Xingtong was born in 1997, is the current Chinese table tennis team women’s main athletes, this National Games qualification she straight through the women’s team, women’s singles main round, so the qualifying round only need to participate in the mixed doubles programme, followed by Hao Shuai with the old-timers in the 1/16 finals meet.
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In terms of strength comparison, Tianjin’s Hao Shuai is not as brave as he was back then, and has no advantage over Liaoning’s young male player Xu Haidong, and Liu Weishan’s individual level is inferior to Chen Xingtong’s. However, Hao Shuai/Liu Weishan are paired up with a left and a right, and are more flexible in their running position than the two right-handed athletes paired up with the opposite side of the team, which is an advantage for the two of them.
Xu Haidong/Chen Xingtong took the lead in the first set and then reversed it, but Hao Shuai/Liu Weishan failed to win the first set point, and were killed 12-10 by their opponent, who made a lot of mistakes in the short swing, and thus failed to win the first set.
In the second set, Xu Haidong/Chen Xingtong took advantage of the high quality of their own veneer, and in this round it was Liaoning’s male Xu Haidong attacking Tianjin’s female Liu Weishan, so naturally the advantage was obvious, and they soon opened up a gap in the middle section, and finally took another win with 11-6, thus taking a big lead of 2-0 in the hope of victory, and it is only a step away from advancing to the main round.
Hao Shuai/Liu Weishan took the lead again in the third set, and this time they didn’t miss another chance, and pulled one back with 11-7 through a spinning attack, and the suspense of the match continued.
In the fourth set, the Tianjin duo got more and more courageous, especially Liu Weishan’s attack was very quality, which created a lot of pressure on the opposite two athletes, and soon they were ahead of their opponents again. Xu Haidong/Chen Xingtong were unable to withstand the onslaught and Hao Shuai/Liu Weishan took the game 11-6, sending the match into a decider.
In the fifth game, Xu Haidong/Chen Xingtong took a timeout to make adjustments, and after returning to the court, they managed to level up the score, and finally ended the game with an 11-9 win, thus defeating their opponents 3-2, and advancing to the main round of the Mixed Doubles tournament.
