The match was competed on May 14 at the Ahoy Arena Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The arena was packed with 8,000 spectators to witness the match. Ding Ning took her revenge against Li Xiaoxia who knocked her out in the fourth round of Women’s singles at the 2009 H.I.S. World Championships held at Yokohama, Japan.
Ding Ning started off well but Li Xiaoxia was up to the challenge. Ding won the first three games with a very close game score. Xiaoxia made a comeback and won the fourth and fifth games. Things started to go against Ning but she somehow managed to seal the match by winning the sixth game. The final match score was 12-10, 13-11, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7.
Ning was delighted and she said, “After the loss in Moscow it’s really been difficult, now I’m so happy, I think last year was a lesson losing to Singapore and now I’m stronger as a result of that lesson. Today is dreams come true; I wanted to win so much, so badly, Equally Li Xiaoxia wanted to win badly, I think maybe she has a slight cold but she fought hard, it was a really tough match.”
In the semi-finals, Ding Ning beat her compatriot Liu Shiwen in six sets as well. On the other hand, Li Xiaoxia defeated her teammate Guo Yue in straight games with a score line of 11-5, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8.
At the quarter-finals, Ning beat the only non-Chinese player to reach the fourth round of the women’s singles Feng Tianwei from Singapore in straight games with a score-line of 11-3, 11-5, 11-6, 11-4. Xiaoxia ended the progress of her compatriot Wu Yang in a match of five games with a score line of 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6 in the quarters.
Ding Ning was not expecting such a big support from the European crowd and said, “The crowd cheered for me, I was pleasantly surprised that a European crowd wanted me to win.”
Despite facing defeat in the women’s singles, Li Xiaoxia did not lose hope. She joined forces with Guo Yue whom she defeated in the semi-finals of the Women’s Singles and won the Women’s Doubles title.
The duo of Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yue won over their compatriots Ding Ning and Guo Yan in straight games. Li Xiaoxia somehow managed to level the matters with Ding Ning by defeating her in the Women’s Doubles of the world championship.
Ding Ning
Ding Ning
Ding Ning
Ding Ning
Ding Ning
Ding Ning
