In the 2024 Ping Pong Super League, two women's team semi-finals concluded on December 30th, with Shandong Luneng and Shenzhen University once again meeting in the finals!
It is worth mentioning that this is the sixth consecutive time these two teams have met in the finals!
In the previous five finals, Shandong Luneng won three championships, while Shenzhen University won two!
Who will win the championship this sixth time?
In the semi-finals held on December 30th, Shenzhen University faced Shanghai Longteng. After losing the first doubles match, Shenzhen University relied on Sun Yingsha to successively defeat He Zhuojia and Liu Weishan, while Kuai Man successfully defeated Chen Yi, advancing to the finals!
In Shandong Luneng's match against Huangshi Base, they performed very strongly, with Chen Xingtong and Qian Tianyi defeating Muyuan Meiyu and Zheng Xianzhi 3-0, and Wang Manyu sweeping the young player Yao Ruixuan 3-0! In the third match, Chen Xingtong faced Muyuan Meiyu from Huangshi Base and played aggressively, sweeping her opponent 3-0!
Thus, Shandong Luneng successfully met Shenzhen University in the finals!
After the game, when the Shandong Luneng players were interviewed, they were asked what advantages they had in the final against Shenzhen University.
Chen Xingtong's three words made the audience laugh, as she said: "Older age!"
Why did Chen Xingtong say that Shandong Luneng's advantage lies in being older?
Because this time, the four players from Shenzhen University are all very young, with the oldest being 24-year-old Sun Yingsha. Additionally, Kuai Man is 20 years old, Tan Yuxuan is 18 years old, and their foreign player Ng Wing Lam is only 21 years old! It can be said that this is a very young team!
In comparison, Wang Manyu from Shandong Luneng is 25 years old, Chen Xingtong is 27 years old, Qian Tianyi is 24 years old, Fan Siqui is 26 years old, and the only young player Xu Yi is 19 years old, but rarely gets the chance to play!
Therefore, compared to Shandong Luneng, the players from Shenzhen University are indeed very young!
However, objectively speaking, when the two teams meet in the finals, Shandong Luneng is more likely to win! Although Shenzhen University has the world's number one ranked player Sun Yingsha, the other players' abilities are clearly weaker than Chen Xingtong and Qian Tianyi from Shandong Luneng!
Even if Sun Yingsha can score two points, it would be very difficult for the other players to contribute even one point!
But the charm of the competition lies in its unpredictability! Which of the two teams will ultimately win the championship? Let's wait and see!