Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju was outclassed in the final of the men’s singles at the T2 Diamond Singapore table tennis tournament, losing in straight games to Xu Xin of China on Sunday.
Xu won 11-9, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 and while Lin showed some fight, he was forced to stay on the defensive throughout the match as he struggled to keep pace with his opponent’s array of attacking shots.
Despite starting with a service error, Xu generally held a one or two-point lead through the first game. Lin tied it at 9-9, but the Chinese player won the next two points to seize the initiative.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Lin took a 3-0 lead in the second game, but gave that up with a string of errors. A big rally saw Lin send Xu well back, giving the Taiwanese an opening to smash a winner, but more errors let Xu run away 11-5 to give him firm control of the match.
Lin’s timing remained off in the third game as Xu took a 5-1 lead. The youngster fought back to level at 8-8, staving off the possibility of the first match of the “fast five” tournament finishing inside the 24-minute limit before which shortened matches are played, but the Chinese favorite snatched the final three points before dominating the final game.
Lin, 18, from Yuanshan Township, Yilan County, reached the final at the Our Tampines Hub with a semi-final victory over another Chinese player, Lin Gaoyuan, and has drawn attention since he won the T2 Diamond Malaysia title in July, but 29-year-old Xu — who has 14 World Tour Singles titles and won Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 — showed his class and experience.
The T2 Diamond Table Tennis League is a series of annual professional events in Malaysia, China and Singapore organized in collaboration with the International Table Tennis Federation.
It features the top 32 male and female players in the world, competing in three tournaments for a combined purse of US$1.5 million, the league’s Web site says.
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS