11 Dec BOLL THE MEN’S CHAMPION; TEAM MAZE SEAL EMPHATIC TEAM WIN

Day 3 of the Grand Finals at the T2 Asia Pacific Table Tennis League (T2APAC) saw Team Maze defeating Team Persson 20-13 for the team title, with Alexander Shibaev and Hina Hayata playing vital roles in the push to the finish line.

Fans at the T2Cavern at Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios in Johor Bahru were also treated to an unforgettable experience in the Men’s 3rd / 4th placing match when Chuang Chih-Yuan and Jun Mizutani served up a splendid exhibition that showcased the best in table-tennis.

Champion of the T2APAC 2017 Men’s Championship, Timo Boll lifting the winner’s trophy after defeating German compatriot, Dimitrij Ovtachrov 3-1 in the final at the Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios, Johor earlier today

But it would be Boll who would avenge his defeats to Ovtcharov at the World Cup and German Open this year with a crafty performance that netted him a US$40,000 individual payday apart from crystal trophy, putting the icing on the cake as he was also a member of the overall champions Team Maze.

Team Championship Final: Team Maze vs Team Persson

Bonus Kill Zone games:
Players from the three matches play a special Kill Zone set to start the final session which counts for an extra point. In a shrewd reversal from the first day of the finals, the Kill Zone games were played before the actual matches.

Kill Zone Match 4: Feng Tianwei 0-1 (3-5) Shi Xunyao
Shi wasn’t going to let her opponent’s reputation cow her as the Chinese teenager took a 4-2 lead before completing a 5-3 win, enabling Team Persson to narrow the overall score to 10-8.

Kill Zone Match 5: Aleksandr Shibaev 1-0 (5-4) Mattias Karlsson
Team Persson badly needed Karlsson to deliver this point and the Swede looked good to fulfill that hope when he went 4-3 ahead. But Karlsson wasn’t able to bring it home as Shibaev fought back to edge the game.

Kill Zone Match 6: Hina Hayata 1-0 (5-2) Bernadette Szocs
Hayata lost the opening point but quickly hit back to lead at 3-2 before powering through for victory over newly-crowned women’s champion Szocs. It also meant the six Bonus Kill Zone games were evenly split and played no role in the eventual outcome

Match 4: Feng Tianwei (SGP) 1-3 Shi Xunyao (CHN) (6-11, 7-11, 11-6, 7-10)
Having taken the Kill Zone game to start the day, Shi continued where she left off by taking the opening game comfortably. A surprisingly flat Feng paid the price for her inaccurate returns as teenager Shi also took the next set. Feng would tighten up her game to take the third set in commanding fashion. But Shi, who was the 2016 World Junior Champion, played a far better end-game in the fourth, managing the clock well after going ahead, and closed out a worthy winner. Team Persson sniff the opportunity to overturn their deficit yet again.
Said Shi: “How many points I win is not as important as how hard I fought for the team to make sure we get the best possible outcome.”
Said Feng: “Shi put up a tremendous fight and forced me into plenty of errors. I want to thank all the fans who supported me and the league this season, hope to see more of you next season.”

Match 5: Aleksandr Shibaev (KOR) 3-1 Mattias Karlsson (SWE) (11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 10-6)
This was always going to be the tie that would swing the entire match as Shibaev can be quite unplayable when he’s on song. And the Russian took little time to settle into stride as he went 2-0 up in short order despite Karlsson’s best effort to stay competitive. The Swede would take advantage of a good start in the third game to pull back a set. But wily Shibaev got in front early in the fourth and never gave up his lead as the clock ran down, restoring a four-game cushion for Team Maze.
Said Karlsson: “I always do my best for the team but he played cleverly and there were some opportunities in the game that I didn’t take.”
Said Shibaev: “I’m very happy to get this win and very happy to be here at T2APAC. And I want also to say thank you to all the fans. Without you, there wouldn’t be us here.”

Match 6: Hina Hayata (JPN) 4-1 Bernadette Szocs (ROM) (10-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 10-2)
She had one job to do and she did it well. That summed up Hayata’s performance in the Grand Finals as the Japanese spent the better part of this week gearing up for this match and held her nerves better to edge the opening two sets by the smallest of margins. Enjoying also a little good fortune, Hayata would grab a commanding 4-0 lead in this tie to completely douse Team Persson’s championship hopes. Full credit to T2APAC women’s champion Szocs who kept playing even when all hope is lost as she won the shortened Game Five for a consolation point.

Captains’ quotes:
Team Maze captain Michael Maze:
“Shibaev’s win took the pressure off us. If Hina had gone into the final match with say a two-game cushion, it would’ve been 50-50. We also had some lucky balls at important moments. But throughout the season we were the two best teams and in the final anything can happen. Inside I was so nervous because I felt Hina (Hayata) needed to win that first set. And when she won the final point off the net, I felt like maybe today fortune favoured us.”

Team Persson captain Jorgen Persson:
“We had opportunities but we didn’t take them. We had to get closer to them to put them under pressure but we never got that close. Player-for-player maybe Michael (Maze) had higher-ranked ones but we matched up well against them. Personally, it was great for me to get the opportunity to work with some many different players and Bernie (Szocs) was the biggest surprise for everybody here, winning the women’s title, it’s fantastic!”