And I have to add men singles semifinals:
Ma Lin versus Wang Hao
Wang Hao opened the match with a 4-1 lead but Ma Lin recovered quickly and leveled in 7-7. After the tie,Wang Hao found his opportunity and scored three straight points leading to 10-7. However, Wang Hao didn't go straight to the finish line as he allowed Ma Lin to catch up in 9-10. Eventually Ma Lin lost his advantage as Wang Hao overtook and nailed the first set with 11-9.
Both players started the second set with a tie in 2-2 then 5-5. After the tie, Wang Hao committed three consecutive mistakes which earned Ma Lin his lead in 8-5. At this point, the veteran held on to his advantage and maintained the control. Indeed, Ma Lin successfully leveled in 1-1 with an 11-7 score.
After winning the second set, Ma Lin found his momentum and carried out another win in the match with 11-8, leading to 2-1. Just as Ma Lin continued to show great momentum, Wang Hao went back into the fourth set and started it with a 3-1 lead. Wang Hao didn't just start with the right foot but showed dominance in the game. Wang Hao posted his biggest lead in the match with 9-3. At this point, Ma Lin failed to recover and gave the opportunity to Wang Hao with an impressive 11-4.
In the fifth set, Ma Lin posted a decent lead of 7-4 but Wang Hao caught up and leveled in 9-9. In a critical point in the match, it was Ma Lin who had the control and scored two more points leading to 11-9. As the Olympic champion only needed one more set to victory, Wang Hao opened the sixth set with a 4-1 lead. However, this match was one of the matches were Ma Lin showed his magic. The veteran overtook to 6-5 then increased his lead further to 9-6. At this point, Wang Hao failed to recover as Ma Lin went straight to victory with 11-6.
Zhang Jike versus Ma Long
This match was actually the third consecutive encounter of Ma Long and Zhang Jike. In the previous two meetings, Ma Long was the victor as Zhang Jike continues to be having a hard time against his nemesis.
As expected, Ma Long ushered the match with a lot of power. He completely dominated the round with 4-0, then 8-1. Eventually, Ma Long nailed the first set with an impressive 11-5. In the second set, Ma Long continued to stay strong while Zhang Jike only scored three points. Ma Long now led in 2-0 with 11-3.
While Ma Long was looking great in the battle, the new world champion Zhang Jike managed to find his own opportunities and used it very well to his advantage. Zhang Jike returned into the third set better and reversed the fate in 9-4. Ma Long scored two more points before Zhang Jike sealed the set with 11-6. After his victory, Zhang Jike maintained his stability and scored another point with 11-9.
After two more sets, both players were tied in 3-3 with Ma Long scoring 11-6 in the fifth set and Zhang Jike earning 11-9 in the sixth game. In the deciding set, Zhang Jike led in 3-0 with Ma Long expectedly catching up in 4-4. After several exchange of attacks, both players were tied in 9-9, then in 10-10. At the end, the match produced the usual result of Ma Long being the victor with 12-10.
Awesome!
So the final will be Ma Lin vs. Ma Long!!!