On October 8, the 2024 Asian Table Tennis Championships continued in Astana, Kazakhstan. The national table tennis ushered in its debut in this competition on the second day after arriving at the venue. The national table tennis men's team defeated Iran 3-1 in the men's team quarterfinals and reached the semifinals. Lin Shidong, who performed well in the new Olympic cycle, played as the second singles, and he entered the main lineup of the men's team, and he moved forward step by step.
The 19-year-old Lin Shidong quickly rose to prominence in the new Olympic cycle, winning the men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles titles at the WTT Almaty Challenger. The subsequent Macau Championships won the men's singles championship back-to-back for two consecutive weeks; The just-concluded Chinese Grand Slam, Lin Shidong wore three things, entered the finals in the third line, and finally won the men's singles and mixed doubles championships, of which the men's singles defeated the big brother Ma Long 4-3 after falling behind 1-3 to win the championship. With the points of the Chinese Grand Slam men's singles championship, Lin Shidong's men's singles world ranking rose 4 places to the top three in the world, second only to Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong, setting a new personal high. Lin Shidong and Lin Gaoyuan failed to reach the top of the men's doubles competition in China's Grand Slam competition, but they rose to the top of the men's doubles world rankings in the new world rankings.
In this Asian Championships, Lin Shidong played four events: men's team, men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles. In the debut of the national table tennis men's team against Iran, Lin Shidong got the opportunity to play and served as the second singles, Wang Chuqin played the first singles, Liang Jingkun played the third singles, and Lin Gaoyuan and Zhou Qihao failed to get the opportunity to play. In this match, Wang Chuqin, who played the first singles, lost to 14-year-old rookie Benjamin 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-13, 9-11 in the first set, with a big score of 2-3. Lin Shidong battled hard in five games in the second set, 13-11, 11-13, 18-16, 5-11, 11-6, 3-2 against Iran's No. 1 singles Alamiyan.
In the third set, Liang Jingkun lost three straight games 11-5, 11-9, 11-1, and defeated Tahr 3-0. The fourth set was the first singles battle between the two sides, Wang Chuqin defeated Alamyan 11-9, 11-7, 4-11, 14-12, and the national table tennis team defeated Iran 3-1 on aggregate to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the national table tennis men's team will play against the Korea men's team. The Korea men's team, starring Jang Woo-jin, Ahn Jae-hyun and Oh Hyun-sung, defeated the Japan men's team led by Tomokazu Jang 3-1 in the quarter-finals to reach the semifinals.
In the first team match of the new cycle, when the two main forces Fan Zhendong and Ma Long did not participate, Lin Shidong served as the second singles, which was the coaching staff's trust in Lin Shidong and a test for him. In the case that Wang Chuqin lost the first point, Lin Shidong withstood the pressure and won the game and helped the national table tennis blow the horn of counterattack. At the beginning of the new cycle, Lin Shidong proved his potential and strength with three men's singles titles, and he also proved himself in the first game of the Asian Championships team competition. In the Los Angeles Olympic cycle, Lin Shidong is among the main lineup, and he will seize the opportunity of every game to gain a firm foothold in the main lineup and stride towards the Los Angeles Olympics.