Lin Yun-ju loses China Smash nailbiter

COMPETiTIVE FINISH: Powering through the tournament in China, Lin Yun-ju finished second, losing in the final to the world No. 1 in a close-fought match

Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju finished second in the men’s singles at the World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash on Sunday in the final against world No. 1 Sora Matsushima of Japan.

Lin, the world No. 6, recovered from a loss in the first two games to take a 3-2 lead, but was overtaken by Matsushima, who won the match 4-3.

In the 55-minute final at Shougang Park in Beijing, Lin finished as the runner-up, with game scores of 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 9-11.

Lin entered Sunday’s final with a 6-1 career record against Matsushima, although the Japanese player had won their previous encounter, a seven-game semi-final at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Cup.

Matsushima took the two opening games before Lin changed the tempo, using his trademark backhand flick and varying placement to win three straight games.

The Japanese player forced a decider after pulling away from a 6-6 tie in the sixth game. Lin then fell behind 6-0 in the seventh and could not make a comeback.

It was Lin’s second singles runner-up finish at a WTT Smash this year, after the Singapore Smash in February.

He was eliminated in the opening round of the inaugural China Smash in 2024 and in the round of 32 last year.

Last Friday, Lin also finished runner-up in the mixed doubles alongside Cheng I-ching, in the final against the world No. 1 pair Lim Jonghoon and Shin Yubin of South Korea.

The Taiwanese duo lost 3-2, with game scores of 14-12, 9-11, 18-16, 11-13, 8-11, after failing to convert eight championship points.

It was their second five-game loss in three weeks to the Korean pair, following the mixed doubles quarter-finals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sept. 25.

The China Smash was this year’s fourth and final WTT Smash event after tournaments in Singapore, the US and Europe.