China table tennis ends WTT Montpellier without title
In the early hours of Oct. 28, Hong Kong time, the WTT Montpellier Champions tournament concluded in France without any Chinese players reaching the finals.
The two Chinese "sole survivors" in the semifinals, Lin Shidong and Qian Tianyi, both failed to advance, resulting in a title-less event for the Chinese team.
Following a historically poor performance at the recent Asian Championships where China won only two gold medals, several Olympic champions from the team withdrew from the Montpellier tournament. China had sent four male and four female players to compete, but six were eliminated before the semifinals.
In the men's singles, Lin Gaoyuan and Liang Jingkun were ousted by the veteran German player, Benedikt Duda. Up-and-comer Xiang Pengci lost in the second round to local favorite Felix Lebrun, who also swept Lin Shidong 4:0 in the semifinals. Lebrun continued his impressive run by defeating Tomokazu Harimoto in the final to win the men's singles title.
In the women's singles, top seed Wang Yidi and Shi Xunyao were eliminated by their teammate Qian Tianyi, while second seed Chen Xingtong lost to the 16-year-old Egyptian prodigy Hana Goda.
Qian Tianyi, the last standing player from China in the semifinals, was defeated 2:4 by Japan's Miwa Harimoto. No Chinese players appeared in either the men's or women's singles finals at the event.
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