Taiwan’s Tokyo Olympic bronze medalists Lin Yun-ju (???) and Cheng I-ching (???) lost a closely contested mixed doubles final 11-8, 14-12, 12-10 to their French opponents at the 2022 World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender Doha, Qatar on Thursday.
The Taiwanese world No. 1 mixed doubles duo and first seeds were defeated by world No. 3 and second seeds Emmanuel Lebesson and Yuan Jia Nan of France in the final, which lasted 30 minutes and 40 seconds at Lusail Sports Arena.
Lin and Cheng, who defeated Lebesson and Yuan in their three previous encounters were up against it from the first game which they lost 11-8 with the French duo making the early running.
Although the first seeds rallied in the second game to give themselves a chance of drawing level, the French pairing were too strong on crucial points and took the second game 14-12.
In the final game, the Taiwanese duo took an early 6-3 lead over the French duo, but then fell behind 7-8.
The French pairing continued to force the tempo and Lebesson drove the ball deep into the back corner and onto the backhand of Cheng, forcing an error.
With Lebesson and Yuan on match point at 10-8, Lin and Cheng saved two match points, creating an opportunity to get back into the match, but the French pair were too strong and took the next two points to win the match in straight games.
After the match, a happy Lebesson and Yuan expressed their excitement at defeating the world No. 1 mixed doubles pairing.
“We lost a few times against them and so to be able to win against them tonight in a final is simply amazing,” Lebesson said.
The Taiwanese pairing defeated the French duo at the Tokyo Olympics last year to clinch bronze, Taiwan’s first Olympic table tennis medal in 21 years.
After the Olympics, Lin and Cheng went on to secure a bronze medal at the 2021 WTT Championships in Houston, held Nov. 23-29, before reaching the final of the 2022 WTT Singapore Smash, held March 7-20, and lifting the trophy at the WTT Contender tournament in Doha, held March 18-24.
Meanwhile, Chen Szu-yu (???) was overwhelmed in the women’s singles semifinals Thursday, falling to Miyuu Kihara of Japan 12-10, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9 in a semifinal match that took 31 minutes and 11 seconds.
The world No. 27 Chen seemed to have difficulty finding her rhythm in the match and was always chasing the game, allowing the world No. 44 Japanese teen to maintain her composure and secure the win.
The 2022 World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender Doha was held March 25-31.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel