March 28, 2022 WTT Doha Star Challenge, Women's Singles Second Round: Tian Jixi (Korea) vs Mori Sakura (Japan)
Tian Zhixi, 29 years old, ranked 11th in the world, is a naturalized player from China to South Korea, is the women's singles number one of the Korean table tennis team, and is the No. 3 seed of the women's singles of this tournament.
Sakura Mori is 26 years old, ranked 74th in the world, and is a Japanese table tennis player who played in the qualifiers.
Just now the men's singles No. 3 seed has been out, and the women's singles No. 3 seed is also a twist and turn.
In the first set, at 2-2, Tian Zhixi lost his own serve wheel, coupled with a mistake in receiving the ball, he lost 3 points in a row; this was not over, 3-5, Tian Zhixi lost 4 points in a row. In fact, every ball is basically Tian Zhixi's initiative to start, but because the slam is very general. Sakura Mori can complete the defense by standing in place and pushing, changing the line slightly and scoring, leading 9-3.
At this point, Tian Zhixi began to get nervous. The serve began to steal long balls, and the stalemate was no longer just a left-right movement, with a straight line, playing a larger angle, a wave of 6-0, the score was tied to 9-9.
Sakura Mori's serve wheel, staring at Tian Zhixi in the middle of the chase position, scored two consecutive points, and won the first set 11-9.
Sakura Mori was tied in the lead and was finally able to win, but she was also very excited and couldn't help but roar.
In the second set, Tian Zhixi had a problem receiving the serve, either risking high or going out of bounds, and he fell behind 0-3 at the beginning. Tian Zhixi had to turn on the scoring mode again.
Since then, the two sides have led each other until the 8-8 draw. Sakura Mori held 2 innings 10-8, and Tian Zhixi scored 3 consecutive points to win the set points at 11-10. And that's not all, Sakura Mori also won another set 3-0, 13-11, and led 2-0.
If it is a player with a general mentality, Tian Zhixi should be on the verge of collapse at this time.
In the third set, Tian Zhixi frowned, and she did not dare to relax when she scored, because she knew that she was "standing on the edge of the cliff", winning one point or two points was far from enough, and it was necessary to win three games in a row to have meaning.
Tian Zhixi left hand shot, the opponent is the right hand to shoot, Tian Zhixi used the backhand to quickly tear the opponent's forehand position of the large angle of the tactic, repeatedly tried and failed, 5-1 lead. After that, he became more and more courageous, and won a set back 11-3 to chase the score to 1:2.
In the fourth set, Tian Zhixi took advantage of the victory to pursue, 9-1 lead.
Maybe Tian Zhixi was already thinking about how to play the decider in advance, and she forgot that this game was not over!
As a result, he lost 5 points in a row and had to be adjusted with a timeout.
The suspension still worked, Sakura Mori pulled out of bounds, and Tian Zhixi won the long-lost set point 10-6.
But Sakura Mori was still chasing points, chasing 8-10. Tian Zhixi took advantage of the gap between wiping sweat and kept nodding her head, emphasizing her tactics, because next was her own serve wheel.
Unexpectedly, Tian Zhixi directly served the ball off the net. She was planning to send long balls to rush the attack. At 10-9, she had only the last set point left and the last serve.
Tian Zhixi wiped the sweat from his forehead and chose a more conservative tactic, serving to the opponent's small triangle in the forehand position, swinging short, and then quickly tearing the opponent's forehand position to score at a large angle, 11-9 there was no danger to win the fourth set, and the big score was chased to 2:2.
Some players with a bad mentality, this situation is continuously chased by the opponent at the end of the game, and the next game is often more passive, in this regard, Tian Zhixi is still experienced and handled well.
In the decider, Tian Zhixi made it 4-1 and Sakura Mori requested a timeout.
Tian Zhixi 5-1, the two sides exchange venues.
Tian Zhixi held 6 match points 5-3, 6-3, 10-4, and finally won the last set 11-5, winning the big score 3:2 reverse, and there was no danger to advance to the round of 16, congratulations to her.