Ma Long of China in the ITTF Men's World Cup semifinal match against Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany in Weihai, east China's Shandong Province, November 14, 2020. /CFP
China's Ma Long, Fan Zhendong both made the semifinals after two straight wins in the IITF Men's World Cup on Saturday in Weihai, east China's Shandong Province.
Ma's next opponent is Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto, China's biggest challenger in men's singles table tennis competitions in the past three years. Fan will play against.
Ma's first rival in the World Cup was Darko Jorgic from Slovenia. In his first international appearance in eight months, Ma did not display total domination from the start. The match reached 2-2 after four games. Though Jorgic was always trailing at the beginning, he always managed to catch up with his back offense.
Ma Long of China hits the ball in the ITTF Men's World Cup Round of 16 match against Darko Jorgic of Slovenia in Weihai, November 14, 2020. /CFP
Ma started Game 5 leading 4-0, but Jorgic again turned the game into a stalemate as it went from 8-8 to 11-11. In the end, Mascored two straight points with a forehand drive to win the game. He did not leave Jorgic much chance in the following Game 6 but took it 11-3.
Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov was Ma's opponent in the quarterfinal match. Ma already achieved 17 wins in a row over Ovtcharov before the World Cup. Such an advantage gave him more confidence. Ma only allowed one game after leading 3-0. In G5, he first led 5-0 and then drove another 5-1 after Ovtcharov made it 6-4.
Tomokazu Harimoto hits the ball in the ITTF Men's World Cup quarterfinal match against Mattias Falck of Sweden in Weihai, November 14, 2020. /CFP
Harimoto crushed his way to the semifinal in the same division. It did not take him much effort to sweep Robert Gardos from Austria in the first round. Harimoto met Sweden's Mattias Falck in the quarterfinal. Falck established lead multiple times in the match but only won Game 4. By contrast, Harimoto performed better against adversity. He came back from trailing in both G1 and G5. In the end, the 17-year-old Japanese claimed a 4-1 win to make the semifinal.
Last year, Ma lost to Harimoto 4-2 in the semifinal match at the Men's World Cup. Now he has the chance to take the vengeance. "Harimoto has grown so much better in recent years. He's one of the toughest opponents to me. I lost to him last year at the World Cup. That makes me look forward to tomorrow's match. I will do my best," said Ma.
Ma Long (L) of China serves in the ITTF Men's World Cup semifinal match against Tomokazu Harimoto in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, December 1, 2019. /CFP
"I was under extra pressure before the World Cup, but winning the two matches excited me. I've been paying attention to Ma's domestic matches previously in China. I admired him. He's in great form and has no shortcomings. My first goal is to make the semifinal. Now that I have done that, I'm going for the title tomorrow," said Harimoto.
In the other division, Fan knocked Chuang Chih-yuan and Lin Yun-ju of Chinese Taipei. His opponent in the semifinal match will be South Korea's Jang Woo-jin, who beat his compatriot Jeoung Young-sik.