European champion Dang QIU clinched in Macao a silver medal. At the WTT Champions tournament which has a prize pool of $800 000 the Düsseldorf player was only defeated in the final by the in-form Chinese player LIN Shidong. As a consolation Dang Qiu takes home $27 000 in prize money and a significant 700 world ranking points which will see the current No. 13 player move up to No. 11 in the new world rankings on Tuesday. The 19-year-old Macau champion LIN Shidong will climb to No. 7 after his title win.
Dang QIU is the first European to reach the final in the World Table Tennis Champions Series an event previously dominated by Asian players. This year two more Champions tournaments are scheduled in Europe: first from October 22 to 27 in Montpellier the home of Olympic bronze medalist Felix LEBRUN and then from November 3 to 10 at the Süwag Energie ARENA in Frankfurt marking the second German edition of the event.
Dang QIU only stumbled in the final against Lin Shidong who has been in exceptional form for weeks. The U19 world champion who has already joined the ranks of Chinese superstars won singles doubles and mixed titles at the WTT Contender Almaty in Kazakhstan the previous Sunday. He dominated the competition in Macao as well. On his way to the final Lin defeated three top-10 players in a row including Japan’s Tomokazu HARIMOTO Frankfurt Champions winner LIN Jun-Yu (Taiwan) and world No. 1 WANG Chuqin.
For European champion Dang QIU the runner-up finish at the prestigious tournament marks a fantastic start to the post-Olympic season. Following his European singles title two years ago his second-place finish at the Europe Top 16 in February 2023 and his semifinal run at the WTT Finals in January 2024 this result is one of the most significant achievements in his international singles career.
Despite the loss in the final Dang QIU took a very positive view of his performance:
“I didn’t have specific preparation for the Champions tournament so I came to Macao without great expectations. I’m very happy to have reached the final.”
Even before the final it had been a stellar week for the European champion who traveled to Macao after a TTBL match with minor adductor issues and without targeted preparation.
“I had no great expectations before the tournament ” admitted Dang Qiu who grew in confidence and quality with each round. His health issues had subsided by his opening win against South Korea’s LIM Jonghoon a performance that continued with a victory over former world finalist and doubles champion Mattias FALCK (Sweden) in the round of 16.
In the quarterfinals the 27-year-old penholder player demonstrated his rising form by coming back from two sets down to beat world No. 4 LIANG Jingkun (China) the Incheon Champions winner in a highly impressive display. Dang QIU then earned a well-deserved 4-2 victory in the semifinals against rising Taiwanese star KAO Cheng-Jui who had earlier eliminated LIN Gaoyuan (China) and Olympic silver medalist Truls MÖREGARDH (Sweden).
Dang Qiu had no regrets after the final acknowledging the outstanding performance of his opponent:
“I’m taking a lot of positives and confidence from the WTT Champions.”
Men’s Singles Final
Dang Qiu vs. Lin Shidong (CHN) 0-4 (-5 -6 -8 -8)
Women’s Singles Final
Sung Yingsha CHN – Wang Yidi CHN 4:2 (7 -6 10 4 8 4)
