Wuxi witnessed one of the biggest table tennis upsets in years on April 14 as Olympic champion and world number one Ma Long crashed out of the ITTF Asian Championships in the third round against the unranked outsider Jeong Sangeun of South Korea.
One of the most successful players in table tennis history and holder of the number one ranking for a record 56 consecutive months, Ma started the match as such an overwhelming favorite that the tournament's official media schedule had already entered his name into the quarterfinal draw.
But Jeong refused to be cowed by his Chinese opponent's fearsome reputation and the partisan support of the crowd in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, losing just one game to win the match 3-1.
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Olympic champion and world number one Ma Long reacts during his match against Jeong Sangeun of South Korea at the ITTF Asian Championships in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province on April 14, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] |
Ma started strongly but lost a tight first game 11-9, and after that the three-time Olympic gold medalist by his own admission "wasn't handling the situation well, especially in a best of five games situation."
The 28-year-old rallied to win the third game 11-6 and even took a 3-0 lead in the fourth, but then a fault service penalty threw the star off his game once more. Jeong took full advantage to close out what proved to be the final game 11-6, to the dismay of Ma's fans in the Wuxi Sports Center.
According to Ian Marshall, editor at the International Table Tennis Federation's official website, Jeong's shock victory is the biggest upset table tennis has seen for several years.
"We're having to go back to 2015 [to think of a comparably surprising result]," said Marshall. "For Ma Long, he lost in 2015 in the second round of the Japan Open to Shang Kun of China. That's the nearest loss, I think."
Despite not having competed internationally for more than a year in the run-up to Wuxi, Jeong has history of causing the world number one problems.
The South Korean, a 2007 World Junior Champion, gave Ma a fright in their only previous meeting, at the 2011 ITTF World Tour United Arab Emirates Open in Dubai. Ma eventually pulled off a miraculous comeback from 9-6 down in the final game to win 4-3, but the encounter was clearly on both players' minds on Friday.
"The last time I lost and it was frustrating," said Jeong. "Having lost to him last time 4-3, I just went out there to fight."
Ma was philosophical about his loss, claiming a combination of factors had contributed to the result.
"Jeong Sangeun was playing very aggressively and well. On the other hand, I made many errors and that gave him more of a chance," Ma told the ITTF after the match.
The loss against Jeong represents the first major setback for Ma since he began a remarkable run of form in 2015 that saw him complete table tennis' "Full House" by winning all three Grand Slam titles and the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in just 467 days.
The achievement even won the Liaoning province native sport-wide acclaim, as he was crowned China's Sports Personality of the Year 2016 by the national broadcaster CCTV.
Ma will now need to dust himself down if he is to regain his World Table Tennis Championships title, which he previously won in 2015, in Germany next month.
Marshall expects the world number one to bounce back quickly after Wuxi. "He'll just have to write [the loss] off, and come back even stronger," he said. "I don't think it will affect him in any way whatsoever.”
Despite Ma's exit, China still retains strong hopes of winning its eighth consecutive men's singles title at the Asian Championships. Four Chinese players will compete in the round of 16, which starts at 7 pm, including crowd favorite Zhang Jike and up-and-coming star Fan Zhendong.
