The group stage of the 2024 Chinese Super League season is over. Let’s look at some of the key moments from this stage.
After the group stage, it’s already clear that this season will bring a new champion in the Chinese Super League. Because the reigning champion, Shandong Luneng’s leader Ma Long, was taking part in the Waldner Cup, his team was unable to make it to the TOP 4 and qualify for the final stage of CTTSL.
Seems that Ma Long got a really good financial offer for his participation in the Waldner Cup and some kind of wild card for his previous achievements to be allowed to miss this season’s CTTSL group stage. Unless injured, the leading Chinese players usually take part in the Chinese Super League to strengthen their positions in the national team ranks.
The group stage was dominated by the selection of China’s future hopes – Lin Shidong and Xiang Peng. Thanks to their efforts, Huangshi TTC club finished the group stage with a perfect record of 8-0. Lin Shidong was the best player, winning 8 of his 9 singles games. The only loss came in a match against Fan Zhendong (1-3). The 25-year-old penholder Xue Fei also contributed well and added 4 singles wins for the Huangshi club.
The current World Ranking leader Wang Chuqin displayed some consistent performances, losing only a single game (1-3) against the reigning World and Olympic champion – Fan Zhendong. Both players showed World-class rallies in their match-up but Wang Chuqin couldn’t keep up with his more experienced opponent’s game. Fan Zhendong’s only loss (0-3) came against Xu Yingbin.
Compared to the previous season, when the Swedish star Truls Moregardh was the only foreign player in the CTTSL, this season there were 6 foreign players, who got a chance to be in the spotlight of the crowded arena.
The one foreign player, who made the biggest impact on his team’s performance was the 17-year-old Japanese rising star – Sora Matsushima. He represented Jiangsu Zhongchao TTC club and won 8 out of 10 singles games. Only Lin Shidong had a better record than the Japanese talent. Lin Yun-ju won all three singles match-ups, helping Shandong Weiqiao TTC to finish second and advance to the final stage. Wong Chun-ting, An Jae-hyun, and Hayato Miki had less impressive results.
This season also brought two different generations on the court. The youngest player of this season, the 15-year-old Li Hechen played against the oldest player of this season, the 44-year-old veteran defender Hou Yingchao. The talented youngster got a confident 3-0 win. However, this remained his only win and he finished this journey with a 1-5 record.
Four teams – Huangshi TTC, Shandong Weiqiao TTC, Shantou Mingrun TTC, and Shanghai Zhongxing TTC will meet once again to battle for the 2024 CTTSL title in Shanghai from December 30, 2024 to January 1, 2025. If the group stage atmosphere was 10/10, the finals should bring even more emotions and the highest quality table tennis.
RESULTS & STATISTICS OF 2024 CTTSL
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