Eighth seed Lin Yun-Ju was always going to be a challenging opponent for our England number 1 Liam Pitchford at the WTT Champions Montpellier event today. The left hander from Chinese Taipei – winner of the WTT Champions Frankfurt in 2023, bronze medallist in at the Tokyo Olympics, multiple World Championships, the World Cup, Asian Games and Asian Championships – wouldn’t be an easy match for any opponent. This said, the players had a 1-1 head-to-head record before the match, with Liam taking his victory en route to the final of the 2023 WTT Contender Muscat.
Game one saw the players exchange points in the early stages before Lin pulled away a 5-2 lead, which he never lost hold of, ultimately taking the opening game despite some incredible play from Pitchford defending against the barriers.
Game two was closer with Liam leading early on, but at 10-9 in his favour he was unable to convert this chance in an opportunity he may well feel cost him the overall victory, with Lin showing why he is the world ranked number 10 player, charging on to win 12-10.
Game three saw Liam take control of things, building a 4-0 lead. Lin fought back to 7-7 and 8-8, but Liam was able to once again pull away, bringing himself back into the match to take the third, 11-9.
But in the fourth game Lin looked unstoppable, and with some unforced errors Liam ultimately handed the match to Lin, who took the final, and deciding game to advance to Round of 16, where he will face Jonathan Groth of Denmark.
Result
Men’s Singles
Round of 32
Lin Yun-Ju (TPE) bt Liam Pitchford 3-1 (11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6)
