Taiwan duo reaches WTT Contender Amman women’s doubles semis

Taiwan table tennis women’s doubles pairing Cheng I-ching (???) and Li Yu-jhun (???) secured their 2023 WTT Contender Amman semifinal spot by dispatching Sarah De Nutte and Ni Xialian (???) of Luxembourg in Jordan on Friday.

World No. 31 Cheng and world No. 86 Li outdueled world No. 78 De Nutte and world No. 39 Ni 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 in a quarterfinal match that lasted only 10 minutes and 31 seconds at Amman’s Sport Palace Hall to book a slot in the semis to face Hong Kong pairing Zhu Chengzhu (???) and Doo Hoi Kem (???).

Cheng and Li will need to get past world No. 85 Zhu and world No. 9 Doo to punch their ticket to the final.

During the match on Friday, Cheng and Li got off to a good start by winning the first two games relatively comfortably.

However, De Nutte and Ni rallied in the third game to force the fourth, which saw the Taiwanese pairing take a one-point lead at 5-4 before scoring five consecutive points to achieve a comfortable lead at 10-4.

From there, Cheng and Li gave up the next two points before pocketing the game 11-6 and earning the win.

After the match, the Taiwan team’s coach Zheng Jiaqi (???) said Cheng and Li performed well and took the attack to their opponents, adding that they implemented the strategy told to them before the match.

Meanwhile in the women’s singles, Cheng lost to world No. 6 Mima Ito of Japan 11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9 in the Round of 16.

The 2023 WTT Contender Amman is underway from Feb. 6-12.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel