On September 13, Beijing time, at the men's singles quarter-finals of the WTT Macau Championship, Chinese player Lin Shidong and Danish player Anders Linde reached the decisive game. Lin Shidong led 6-3, and the victory was in sight. However, at this moment, the situation on the field reversed. Lin De scored consecutively and finally won the decisive game 11-7, thus announcing the world's first place with a big score of 4-3 and advancing to the semi-finals! This game is the most intense showdown in this round. Lin Shidong is currently ranked first in the world for men's singles, while Lin De is ranked 19th. The two have played twice before. Lin Shidong both won and did not lose a single game
At the beginning of the game, Lin Shidong took the lead and won the first game 11-8. The situation in the second game suddenly changed. Lin De disrupted Lin Shidong's rhythm through the strategy of serving a long ball and suddenly speeding up, and won the game 11-5. In the subsequent third and fourth games, both sides showed their strengths, and Lin Shidong won the third game 11-7, but Lin De narrowly won 12-10 in the key fourth game, equalizing the big score to 2-2; the fifth game became As the turning point of the game, the scores of both sides rose alternately. After the game reached 8-8, Lin De won another game 12-10 with his strong performance in the serving round, and overtook the game 3-2. Although Lin Shidong easily won the game with an absolute advantage of 11-2 in the sixth game and dragged the game into the final game, in the final game, he failed to seize the opportunity while leading 6-3 and eventually lost the game 7-11
Linde's promotion path in this Macau Championship is a model of "dark horse". In the men's singles 1/16 final, he first defeated Slovenia's good player Dako Yochik (7-11, 11-4, 14-12, 11-9), showing his outstanding strength. In the men's singles 1/8 final, Linde defeated Chinese player Chen Yuanyu (9-11, 11-5, 11 -8, 13-11), successfully advanced to the quarterfinals, and with this victory over the world's No. 1 Lin Shidong, Lin De has eliminated three strong players in a row, and his value is self-evident; Lin De's playing style is distinctive, holding a left hand, he is good at serving long balls and suddenly speeding up, and can play adventure balls at critical moments. This style of playing can often have a surprising effect when facing strong opponents
After the game, Linde used "giants" to describe the Chinese table tennis team in an interview, which attracted widespread attention. When asked whether he could digest the result of defeating the world's number one, he said: "This is really hard to describe in words. Before the game, I told the coach and friends that I felt I had a chance because I was in very good shape recently." When talking about the secret to defeating Lin Shidong, Linde admitted that Swedish player Moregard's previous game against Lin Shidong gave him great inspiration. "When you see those 'giants' being defeated, you will believe that you can do it, which will change your mentality and belief before the game"; Linde also emphasized that the coach's support is crucial: "With my coach, I would never have performed like this. His support at critical moments has helped me a lot." For the next semi-finals, he said that he would prepare carefully and do his best
With Lin Shidong's elimination, the national table tennis team only left Wang Chuqin to advance to the semi-finals in the men's singles competition, and the pressure was all given to the world's second shoulder. In another quarter-final, Wang Chuqin showed a good condition. He swept Chinese Taipei player Lin Yunju 4-0 (11-6, 11-9, 14-12, 12-10) and advanced to the semi-finals. In this game, Wang Chuqin's record in the international arena expanded to 10 wins and 3 losses, and the winning rate of international arenas this season is as high as 93%; Wang Chuqin will face the winner between German player Duda and South Korean player Zhang Yuzhen in the semi-finals. As the "only seedling" of the national table tennis team, can he withstand the pressure and defend the glory of the national table tennis team become the biggest highlight of the subsequent event
Lin Shidong's elimination reflects the common problems faced by young players during their growth process, and the unbalanced development of technical strength and psychological quality. Lin De said in a post-match interview: "Moregard defeated Lin Shidong in the European Grand Slam to give me a great reference." This sentence directly points out the weaknesses that Lin Shidong currently exists. When the opponent studies him targetedly and works hard on psychological games, the young world's number one has obvious shortcomings in his ability to withstand pressure and on-the-spot adjustments; in the game, Lin Shidong performed poorly in key points, especially at the critical moments of the fourth, fifth and decisive games, and failed to show the stability and decisiveness that the world's number one should have. In contrast, Lin De played more decisively at critical moments and dared to take risks. This mentality advantage has become the key factor in his ability to win in an upset
Lin Shidong's failure is unexpected, but it is not entirely a bad thing. For a 20-year-old player, setbacks are often the most valuable asset in his growth process. Through this game, Lin Shidong can more clearly recognize his shortcomings, especially in terms of psychological quality and adaptability. Lin De used "giant" to describe the national table tennis team, which not only reflects the respect for Chinese table tennis, but also reflects the changes in the world table tennis pattern. Players from all countries are studying the national table tennis team and looking for ways to defeat the "giant". This competitive situation is conducive to promoting the development of world table tennis, and at the same time promotes the national table tennis team to continue to improve and innovate
For Wang Chuqin, the pressure to bear the honor of the national table tennis team alone is of great importance, but it is also a valuable opportunity to prove his strength. As a top athlete, how to perform under pressure is the key to distinguishing excellence from excellence
