Fourth Singles Title For Fan Zhendong At The 2022 Chinese National Championships

The biggest local tournament in China this year did not bring many surprises. The current World Ranking leader Fan Zhendong proved his quality, adding another singles title to his resume.

The Chinese National Championships in Huangshi brought the majority of the leading Chinese players. However, Ma Long, Wang Chuqin, and Liang Jingkun did not take part in this tournament. Still, it featured the Chinese internationals – Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan, who both made it to the final.

On the way to the final, Fan Zhendong got past Yu Ziyang (3-1) and Niu Guankai (4-1). Lin Gaoyuan won Xu Chenhao (3-1) and Lin Dingshuo (4-1).

The final matchup was a chance for Fan Zhendong to take revenge for his loss in the team event. Before the singles event, Lin Gaoyuan won against Fan Zhendong 3-2. However, the final slowly, but surely turned in favor of the eventual champion. Fan Zhendong won the first two sets, and the second one was a long fight. The final score of this set was 20-18. Lin Gaoyuan deserves credit for not giving up after such a tough start. He won the next set, then again lost one, and managed to come out as a winner of the fifth set. 3-2, and Fan Zhendong made the final push to make it 4-2 and win the title.

Despite losing the final, Lin Gaoyuan still enjoyed a successful tournament, winning gold medals in doubles and mixed doubles events. Together with Zhou Qihao, he won the doubles final against the talented Chinese youngsters Xiang Peng and Yuan Licen, who played together for the first time in major tournaments.

The audience at Huangshi also had a chance to see the favorite of many table tennis fans – Xu Xin back in action. The experienced Chinese star helped his Shanghai team to win the gold medals in the team event after winning the final 3-2 against Guangdong team.

SINGLES RESULTS

FINAL
Fan Zhendong
4-2 vs. Lin Gaoyuan
1/2 FINALS
Fan Zhendong
4-0 vs. Niu Guankai
Lin Gaoyuan
4-1 vs. Lin Dingshuo