FRANKFURT – Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-ju stunned China’s table tennis star Ma Long 4-1 to claim the men’s WTT Champions Frankfurt title, while Wang Yidi defeated her Chinese compatriot Wang Manyu to lift the women’s trophy on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Lin completed an astonishing 7-11, 11-7, 13-11, 12-10, 12-10 victory over Ma, one of the sport’s all-time greats, in a thrilling final.
Appearing in his first WTT Champions final, eighth seed Lin was very much the challenger in the star-studded showdown against the three-time world champion and the only player to win men’s singles gold twice at the Olympics.
However, Lin proved determined to score the crucial points, sealing victories in the following four games after losing the first one to take home his first WTT Champions trophy.
“We’re very close in every game, but Lin was better today. He had excellent skills and tactics, especially with his backhand. He had won over Wang Chuqin yesterday, which surprised me a bit. His progress gives us lots of pressure,” said China’s 35-year-old veteran.
It was Lin’s second victory against Ma in 2023 as he also won 3-1 in the last 16 of the WTT Champions Xinxiang in April.
“Ma Long is one of the greatest players in the world. I was definitely the underdog to challenge him and I did it successfully. I made some tactical changes to collect the key points. Additionally, some lucky points also helped me win.”
Yidi has finally got her hands on the WTT Champions trophy after beating third seed Manyu 11-3, 13-11, 12-10, 13-11 for the women’s title.
Having lost five of her six previous encounters against Manyu, Yidi finally took her second win over her teammate. It was four years ago, also in Germany, when Yidi edged past Manyu 4-3 in the quarter-finals at the 2019 ITTF German Open.
Having picked up a left knee injury in her semi-final win over Hina Hayata of Japan, Manyu could not turn the tables as Yidi stayed resolute to seal the victory.
“It was really not easy to win the match. I didn’t expect a 4-0 win. In the fourth game, I was 10-3 ahead, then 10-11 behind. Manyu played really strong at that time. In the end, I was lucky to seal the win with a net ball,” said Yidi.
The result sees Yidi become one of only three players to lift a women’s singles trophy on the WTT Champions stage, joining Manyu and Sun Yingsha on an exclusive list. XINHUA
