On January 11th, Beijing time, the singles semi-finals of the 2025 WTT Star Challenge Doha Station began. On the national table tennis team's side, after the men's singles had already been completely eliminated, Chen Yi and Kuai Man, who advanced to the women's singles top four, took on the responsibility of fighting for the singles championship, with both women's singles semi-finals being China-Japan matchups. In the first match that ended earlier, Chen Yi lost a reversal after winning the first set 11-8, with Miharu Muozaki making a comeback with three consecutive sets 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 to advance. In the second women's singles semi-final, new world champion Kuai Man withstood the pressure, winning three sets in a row with a total score of 3-0 to sweep Japanese star Miyu Nagasaki, keeping the hope of the national table tennis team's singles championship alive!
Chen Yi's elimination left Kuai Man as the only remaining player in the national table tennis team's singles lineup. On her way to advancing, Kuai Man successively eliminated Huang Yihua, Saki Shibata, Yi-Tian Ye, and Shi Xunyao, especially being able to eliminate the strong Japanese player Saki Shibata, indicating that Kuai Man is currently in good form. At last year's end-of-year Chengdu ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, Kuai Man helped the national table tennis team win the championship and also became the new world champion of the national table tennis team.
In this women's singles semi-final, Kuai Man's opponent was Miyu Nagasaki. In the previous round, Miyu Nagasaki lost the first two sets before winning three consecutive sets, staging a great comeback against the national table tennis team's famous player Zhuo Jia He. In this match, if Kuai Man can defeat Miyu Nagasaki, she will not only be able to avenge her teammate Zhuo Jia He but also retain the hope of the national table tennis team's singles championship.
In the first set, Miyu Nagasaki played very aggressively with her backhand, scoring two points in a row after coming up. Miyu Nagasaki's backhand has always been very distinctive, and in this match against Kuai Man, the backhand will also be Miyu Nagasaki's biggest advantage. Kuai Man steadied herself, relying on the performance of her forehand to catch up with the score in the middle stage of the game, and Kuai Man fought bravely, scoring continuously to overtake 8-6.
Relying on her own serve, Miyu Nagasaki launched a small wave of three consecutive points, regaining the lead at 9-8. Kuai Man responded with two consecutive points to overtake and take the lead at 10-9, grabbing the set point first. Miyu Nagasaki saved one set point and tied the score at 10-10. Kuai Man took two key points in a row to narrowly win the first set 12-10.
In the second set, Kuai Man came out with momentum, scoring two points in a row and letting out a roar! However, Miyu Nagasaki quickly responded and quickly tied the score. In the long-range standoff, Kuai Man scored a lucky net shot, and Miyu Nagasaki lost consecutive points in her serve, with Kuai Man establishing a two-point lead at 8-6. In the final stages of the set, the two traded points in their standoffs, and Kuai Man converted the set point with a force-reducing backhand cross-court shot to win another set 11-8.
In the third set, Miyu Nagasaki and Kuai Man requested timeouts in succession, with Kuai Man taking the lead at the start and expanding her advantage in the middle of the set, eventually winning another set 11-4, sweeping Miyu Nagasaki 3-0 in straight sets to advance to the women's singles final.