Currently, the “world champion” of billiards, Fan Zhendong, has held the title for 25 consecutive months. He has also won many international competitions. If he participates, he will almost have to face a player with a higher seed in the latter part of the schedule. will lose. However, recently he was unexpectedly eliminated in the first round of the World Table Tennis Professional League (WTT) Goa Star Challenge (Star Contender Goa 2023). , such a big upset caused shock in the table world, today let us get to know Zhao Dacheng, the big dark horse who brought down the king of the ball!
Born in South Korea in 2002, Cho Dae-sung became the “youngest” men’s singles player to reach the semi-finals of the National Championships at the age of 15, and set the record for the youngest to reach the finals the following year. However, his outstanding performance in adult competitions at a young age earned him the title of “Billiards Genius”.
Although he performed well in singles in Korea, in the international arena, Zhao Dacheng’s doubles results are much better than singles. In 2019, when he was only 17 years old, he and his mixed doubles partner Shin Yubin won the championship in the final of the Czech Open by defeating Japan’s No. He also defeated Lin Yunru and Liao Zhenjue in the men’s doubles to win the championship. He also defeated the Chinese team in the German Open the following year to win the men’s doubles championship, and then won the men’s doubles championship once more in the WTT Doha Star Challenge (WTT Star Contender Doha 2021) in 2021.
Last year, the 20-year-old Zhao Dacheng finally won the championship for the first time in the national championship. He is considered to be the future leader of billiards in South Korea. This year, he finally broke out in the international arena in the singles part. He won 3 games in a row from the qualifying round and entered the main match. He did not expect to face the champion Fan Zhendong in the first round of the main match.
In the match between the two, Fan Zhendong took the lead to win 2 rounds and gained the advantage of drawing cards. Just when everyone thought that Zhao Dacheng would definitely lose the game, he showed his tenacious will, and following that, he chased 3 rounds in a row and won in a reversal of victory. It won the game, won the applause of everyone, and also caused a lot of discussion on the Internet.
Unlike the surprised fans, Zhao Dacheng appeared quite calm following winning the game. During the interview, he also said that the most important thing during the game is not to let his morale down, so he will also show full confidence in the next game, I hope I can win to the end!
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