After entering the quarterfinals, Ye Hao's quarter-final opponent was Li Jing of Hong Kong, China, who knocked out Wang Liqin. The match between the two can be said to be uneventful, without too many fierce fights. Li Jing did not return to the super level form when she defeated Wang Liqin in the last game, and her performance was mediocre. Ye Hao finally swept the opponent with a total score of 4:0 and easily advanced to the semifinals.

The other quarter-final match in the bottom half of the bracket with Ye Hao was between Germany's Bohl and China's Hou Yingchao. Hou Yingchao entered the national team in 1998 and can be regarded as the old man of national table tennis, but he has not played proud results. This time in the China Open, he started from the qualifying round and played well, all the way to the quarterfinals.

Speaking of Hou Yingchao, I have to mention his style of play, he is the only player in the world table tennis who uses raw rubber to cut the ball with his backhand, combining offense and defense, attacking in defense, strong offensive awareness, ball rotation and changeability, and a good record against foreign players.

However, in this match, he faced the world's top powerhouse, Bol, and was unable to gain the upper hand. In the end, Hou Yingchao lost the game with a total score of 1:4 and missed the men's singles semifinals.

Therefore, Ye Hao will face Bol in the semifinals, and the two of them are already old rivals and are very familiar with each other. However, judging from the past records, Ye Hao has never lost to the other party and occupies a psychological advantage. The national table tennis coaching staff also generally believes that Ye Hao's victory should be a high-probability event.

Half an hour before the start of the semifinals, Ye Hao was warming up in the backcourt. Suddenly, a hurried figure rushed towards him, "Ye Hao, something is wrong, your racket is unqualified!" ”

When Ye Hao heard this anxious voice, he was also immediately attracted by the content of what he said. "What? The racket test is unqualified! Ye Hao couldn't believe his ears, now there was less than half an hour before the start of the game, this bad news can be described as a bolt from the blue, and it instantly split Ye Hao and the coaches of the national table tennis to a great moment.

It turned out that due to Ye Hao's long-term use and repair, it was glued too many times, resulting in the pre-game detection of the racket, and the thickness exceeded the standard, so it was judged to be unqualified! In fact, due to the frequent changes to the requirements of the International Table Tennis Federation for racket standards, the Chinese table tennis team has encountered the problem of failing to pass the test more than once before the start of the competition, and it will continue to occur in the future.

In table tennis, racket inspection may seem like an inconspicuous job, but in fact, it can cause a lot of trouble for the athlete. For example, Ye Hao this time, he didn't know that his racket failed to pass the test half an hour before the game, which was really burning his eyebrows and he was in a hurry!

In the end, there was no way, Ye Hao had to take out his spare racket. However, the spare board has not been glued for more than ten days, and the stickiness is very poor. It wasn't until Ye Hao played a dozen that he found that it was as hard as the sole of his shoe......

This episode before the game made Liu Guoliang, who was originally full of confidence, suddenly gloomy. The semi-finals of the top half are a Chinese derby, with the doubles duo of Marin and Chen Qi needing to love each other to determine a place in the final. This means that the Chinese team has already secured a place in the final in advance.

In contrast, the semi-final between Ye Hao and Bol is very crucial. If Ye Hao can defeat the opponent, then the final will be a civil war for the Chinese team, and the champion and runner-up can be said to be in advance. However, if Ye Hao loses, then Bol, who has been promoted, has a chance to defeat the Chinese athlete again and win the championship.

This is not what Liu Guoliang, as the head coach, wants to see. You must know that in last year's Table Tennis World Cup, it was Bol who defeated three Chinese players in a row and finally won the men's singles championship, which made the Chinese men's table tennis embarrassed and lost face.

After the start of the game, Ye Hao's performance was really greatly affected, and the spare racket that was not smooth brought him great trouble, making his offensive and defensive rhythm completely disordered. Because he needs to slowly adapt to the spare racket in order to find the best degree of power, Ye Hao can only delay as much as possible in the first game, hoping to adapt as soon as possible.

At 7:11, Ye Hao was still defeated in the end, and Bol successfully won the first game, leading Ye Hao in the total score.

In the second game, Ye Hao's adaptation to the spare racket was much better than the previous game, and he was gradually able to give full play to his strength. However, on the scoreline, Bol still held a narrow but firm lead.

From 3:2 at the beginning, to 6:4, 8:7 at the back, until the final 11:9, although Ye Hao tried to catch up, he still did not complete the reversal in the end. Bol unexpectedly took a 2-0 lead in the first two games, which gave him hope for a win in this game.

At the same time, the Chinese table tennis men's team is as silent as death. If it's because of inferior skills, it's okay to lose the game, but because of the racket, it's hard to accept that the opponent can easily advance.

Liu Guoliang's face is very serious, although the China Table Tennis Open is only one stop on the ITTF Tour, compared with the World Table Tennis Championships, the World Cup and the Olympic Games, it is really insignificant. But losing is never a pleasant thing for athletes, for coaches.

The third game began, Ye Hao knew that he was forced to Liangshan, if he continued to lose in this game, then it was really the general trend and there was no chance of victory. However, what made him a little sure in his mind was that through the first two games, he was basically familiar with the characteristics of the spare racket. Next, not to mention that it can exert 100% combat effectiveness, but it is not a problem to restore 90% of the strength!

0：0，

1：1，

2：2，

3：3，

……

9：9，

10：10，

In this game, although Bol was very strong and in good condition due to the victory in the last two games, Ye Hao still withstood the pressure and firmly bit the score!

When it was Bol's turn to serve, he seemed very relaxed, on the one hand, due to the lead in the big score, on the other hand, in the previous game, Ye Hao was not suitable for the racket, in order to reduce mistakes, he rarely took the initiative to attack, launched a rush and strong attack.

But this time, Bol miscalculated, Ye Hao immediately rushed sideways after his serve, and this ball can be described as magnificent. Ye Hao seemed to want to vent all his previous frustration in this attack!

At 11:10, Ye Hao's forehand rushed vigorously to score, and the opposite Bol was suppressed by Ye Hao's sudden outburst of amazing momentum! Until the next ball started, Bol did not completely come to his senses, when he put Ye Hao's serve back to the table, he was greeted by Ye Hao's fierce attack again.

It's just that this time, Ye Hao's means of scoring is another trick of his own - backhand overlord twisting! Fast, accurate, ruthless, turning, the table tennis ball is like a sharp arrow, crossing the top of the table, straight to Bol!

12:10, Ye Hao won the third game!