As expected, it will be an all-China affair in the final of both men’s and women’s singles in the Nakheel Table Tennis Asian Cup after an exhilarating round of semi-finals.
At Dubai World Trade Centre, defending women’s champion Feng Tianwei of Singapore fell as the predominantly Chinese crowd cheered Li Xiaoxia to a win in seven games, 11-7, 11-4, 4-11, 4-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6.
Li Xiaoxia will now face her compatriot and world No1 Liu Shiwen, who stopped Hong Kong’s Tie Yana’s run in the semi-finals.
Tie Yana lost her momentum in the night though, going down to Liu Shiwen in straight games, 11-1, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4.
In the gold medal match, Li Xiaoxia, who qualified for the Olympics at the recent Asian Olympic Qualification tournament in Hong Kong, will be aiming to collect one of the few titles she is yet to win, while Liu Shiwen will be conscious of the eyes of Olympic selectors as she strives to win the Asian Cup for the fourth time.
Great to be back at the #TableTennisAsianCup again today. #PingPongDubai @ittfworld pic.twitter.com/8veqt4ZpmD
— Promoseven Sports (@Promo7Sports) April 29, 2016
In the first men’s semi-final, defending Asian Cup champion and top seed Xu Xin, who, like Shiwen, is yet to qualify for the Olympics and is keen to prove his worth to selectors, was up against veteran Gao Ning of Singapore.
Gao Ning started well, taking the first game before Xu Xin found his form to win 8-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-4, 11-1.
The final match of the evening, between crowd favourite Zhang Jike of China and Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong, went the way of the favourite, with Zhang Jike winning 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8.
