Dishang 2020 ITTF Mens Champion

The men’s world cup #RESTART has been a treat to all the table tennis fans around the world. Day 3 bring sthe closure of the Dishang 2020 ITTF Men’s World cup with World No. 1 Fan Zhendong as the champion. Congratulations to the no. 1 seed and now four time World Cup Winner. This event was more special because of insightful commentary from England Top Player Liam Pitchford.

Semi Finals

• Match 1

• • Ma Long from China won against Japan’s Prodigy Tomokazu Harimoto in a 7 game thriller. Harimoto took a 3-1 lead in the first 4 games. Ma Long found his rhythm and started high toss serves. The match ended with Ma Long winning 4-3 (11-7, 3-11, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4)

• Match 2

• • Fan Zhendong from China defeated Jang Woojin from South Korea in straight sets 4-0. Korea’s Jang Woojin hit some great forehand but the no.12 seed couldn’t break down Fan in the third set and the match went to Fan Zhendong. (11-5, 11-8, 13-11, 11-8)

Semi Finals

• Third Place

• • Tomokazu Harimoto from Japan defeated Jang Woojin from Korea in a 7 set game. Jang took initial lead of 2-0 but Harimoto changed tactics and became more aggresive with his returns. Jang came back solid in 6th set but lost in the final set.(7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 14-12, 6-11, 11-5).

• Final

• • Fan Zhendong from China defeated the Captain of China’s National team Ma Long in a seven set match. Ma took the first set but then Fan took the next three which resulted in 3-1. Ma Long did a comeback earlier in the semi final in Harimoto and repeated the same by winning next 2 sets. In the final set, Fan’s game was better than Ma Long and became the champion once again in 4-3 final score. (3-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9)

“I would like to thank the Local Organising Committee and the ITTF who, under such difficult circumstances, managed to pull off one of the biggest events like the World Cup. I would also like to thank my team. Despite this pandemic, we could continue to train at a very high level. After eight months without international events, I didn’t feel very rusty or unable to do what I set out to.” – Fan Zhendong

Some Instagram photos from ittfworld

That’s all for the Dishang 2020 ITTF World cup coverage, we will be back with more event coverage soon.

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