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(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
On Sunday, both Chinese teams issued strong performances with each winning their Final. Japan’s men and women teams each reached their respective Final, but both had to settle for runner up.
Liang Jingkun struck the first blow for China with a tight 3-2 win over Tomokazu Harimoto that included coming back from an 0-2 deficit. Sora Matsushima won the first game against Wang Chuqin, but then Chuqin won three in a row to give China a 2-0 lead. The final blow came from Lin Shidong who defeated Shunsuke Togami 3-1. The Chinese men win 3-0 to secure the title.
The Japanese women led twice in the Final. Miwa Harimoto won the opening match 3-2 over Wang Manyu to give Japan the early lead. Sun Yingsha thend defeated Hina Hayata to even the score. Honoka Hashimoto then gave Japan the lead again – a 3-1 victory over Kuai Man. After that, China flexed their muscles with consecutive 3-0 wins to seal the title. Sun Yingsha defeated Miwa Harimoto 3-0 and Wang Many defeated Hina Hayata 3-0. The Chinese women win 3-2.
Obviously, China dominating is the top headline of the event… but its also not a surprise. In fact, the pressure applied to both Chinese teams may be a bigger surprise than the ultimate winners. That is, the most unexpected thing about China winning the Men’s event was that they dropped two matches in the qualifications and were pushed by France in the Semifinal. And the most unexpected thing about the Chinese women’s run was that they trailed twice in the Final.
Some other interesting story lines included Kanak Jha having a great run (finishing 3-1) – undefeated until he lost to Flavien Coton in the USA’s match against France. Coton was one of the bigger surprises of the tournament, with the 18 year old Frenchman winning four of five matches in the tournament (and he led Wang Chuqin 2-1 before losing in the Semifinal match against China). Coton’s wins included Hugo Calderano, Shunsuke Togami, Jao Geraldo, and Kanak Jha. For the Chinese men, Wang Chuqin was 10-0 but the rest of the team was beatable logging 11 wins and 8 losses between them. Don’t be surprised to see some wholesale changes among Team China before the next World Championships (and the Olympics).
Lily Zhang was great for TeamUSA winning 4 matches without losing any, but the surprise for the Americans was the ascension of Sally Moyland. Moyland won six matches (of seven). Moyland’s wins included wins over Yashaswini Ghorpade and Manika Batra – both strong Indian players with solid rankings. TeamUSA may be set to peak at the right time as Amy Wang and Lily Zhang continue to play at a high level – Sally Moyland is a legitimate third making the Americans a formidable team.
The tour has a little break over the next 10 days – but many of the top players will be heading to Lagos, Nigeria for the next WTT tour stop. Anders Lind, Shunsuke Togami, Dimitrij Ovtchaov, and USA’s Kanak Jha will all be in action starting May 19.
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