Taiwan’s top male table tennis player Lin Yun-ju on Friday was named the 2023-2024 regular-season Most Valuable Player (MVP) of Japan’s semi-professional T.League.
Nicknamed the “Silent Assassin from Taiwan,” Lin is to be awarded ￥1 million (US$6,614) for the honor, which was based on his 16-2 record for a league-best 88.9 winning percentage.
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Photo: CNA
That performance led his Kinoshita-Meister Tokyo team to top the league with a 15-5 record and to the final at the Yoyogi 2nd Gymnasium in Tokyo yesterday against the Okayama Rivets.
Lin beat Hao Shuai of China 3-1 (11-13, 11-3, 11-1, 11-9) in his men’s singles match in the four-match final, which Kinoshita-Meister Tokyo claimed 3-1.
The 22-year-old world No. 6 led Taiwan’s men’s team to the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan, South Korea, late last month, where they matched the team’s best performance at the event by reaching the semi-finals.
The result also saw Taiwan secure a berth at the Paris Olympic Games in the men’s team event and two in the men’s singles.
He is to vie for the title at the WTT Champions Incheon in South Korea starting on Wednesday, before teaming up with Chen Szu-yu at the World Mixed Doubles Olympic Qualification in Havirov, Czech Republic, in the middle of next month.
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