The qualifying round of the Table Tennis WTT Doha Stars Tournament ushered in the final crucial battle. Yuan Licen, a rookie in national table tennis and the men's doubles champion in the finals, lost 1-3 to his opponent in the match with Zhao Dacheng, a South Korean teenager who had defeated Fan Zhendong, and failed to advance to the main match, which also made the Chinese team suffer its first defeat in this competition.
Judging from the three matches in the qualifying round, Yuan Licen revealed some problems, such as too many withdrawals, insufficient forehand strength, and insufficient decisiveness in the backhand, which need to be worked on in the future. Yuan Licen was born in 2000, while Zhao Dacheng was born in 2002, and both are the best of the current young table tennis players.
Yuan Licen recently won the men's doubles championship in the finals and the men's team championship of the Table Tennis Super League, while Zhao Dacheng unexpectedly defeated the national table tennis Olympic champion Fan Zhendong, and also partnered with Shen Yubin to defeat Misei Mizutani Ito in the mixed doubles event, which has a strong impact. Technically, these two players have their own strengths, but in terms of competition experience, Zhao Dacheng is superior. During the game, Yuan Licen led for a while in the first game, but was eventually reversed by the opponent and lost the first game.
At the beginning of the second game, Yuan Licen was more determined, but was later disrupted by the opponent's rush and was tied again, and Zhao Dacheng finally won 11-8. In the third game, Yuan Licen's first serve performance appeared to be in a hurry, resulting in a series of mistakes in the near table confrontation, and soon fell into a passive situation. In the face of victory in sight, Zhao Dacheng also showed some relaxation, and was finally reversed, and Yuan Licen successfully pulled back a game.
Yuan Licen fell into passivity again in the fourth game, but this time he failed to turn the situation around, which is a pity. In the end, Zhao Dacheng easily ended the game with a score of 11-4, broke through the defense line of national table tennis with a score of 3-1, and successfully advanced to the men's singles main event. In the summary of technique and tactics, Yuan Licen and Zhao Dacheng have similarities in the choice of ball paths, they both tend to retreat and throw their hands off, and like to take the initiative to enter the defensive state.
This is good for full accumulation, but it can also lead to slowing down and reducing the quality of the return. Therefore, the key to this game is who can settle the battle quickly and accurately in the near stage, or have the advantage in the exit competition. Judging from the match, the South Korean player's strong forehand fundamentals pose a threat, while Yuan Licen is not as decisive and firm as his opponent in returning the ball near the table. Therefore, the final defeat is not unjust, and it needs to be seriously reflected and summarized.