The Chinese national team once again displayed its quality and depth in the WTT Contender that was held in Oman’s capital Muscat.
While many international stars did not take part in this tournament, China national team brought a solid set of players, led by Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan, and Wang Chuqin. Chinese also brought some of their brightest talents to give them a chance to earn some extra points in the World Rankings.
Among the players who reached the quarterfinals in the singles event, six of them were Chinese players, and only Nigerian star Quadri Aruna and Swedish international Jon Persson managed to reach this stage.
The singles event was once again a success for the 25-year old Liang Jingkun, who comfortably cruised towards the title up until the semifinals stage, where he faced the young Chinese talent, Xiang Peng. It took seven sets to find out the winner. Xiang Peng had a 3-2 lead, and he was ahead in the sixth set as well. However, Liang Jingkun managed to pull out this set, and the advantage was on his side in the decider.
The 19-year old talent impressed on his way to the semifinals, winning the experienced Chuang Chih-Yuan and his Chinese teammate Wang Chuqin, who is currently ranked 13th in the World Ranking. However, this was not the first successful run for Xiang Peng. Back in 2019, he won the Canada Open.
The final match-up between Liang Jingkun and Lin Gaoyuan turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Lin Gaoyuan took the first set, but then he was crushed by his teammate in the next four. 4-1, and Liang Jingkun added another WTT tournament title to his resume after winning two tournaments in Slovenia in 2021.
The doubles event was less successful for Liang Jingkun. Together with Wang Chuqin, they faced a 2-3 loss in the quarterfinals against the eventual winners – Xiang Peng and Lin Shidong. In the final, the young Chinese players confidently overcame the Taiwanese duo Peng Wang-Wei and Chuang Chih-Yuan 3-0. It was the first doubles title on the professional circuit for both Chinese players. It is also worth mentioning the success of the young Romanian players – Darius Movileanu and Eduard Ionescu. They reached the semifinals stage and won the bronze medals in the doubles event.
WTT CONTENDER MUSCAT
SINGLES Liang Jingkun
Lin Gaoyuan
Xiang Peng
Liu Dingshuo
DOUBLES Xiang Peng/Lin Shidong
Chuang Chih-Yuan/Peng Wang-Wei
Darius Movileanu/Eduard Ionescu
Cedric Nuytinck/Jakub Dyjas
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