by Henry Chen 

Shandong Luneng, Anxin, Shandong Qilu, and Bayi were the four strongest teams to emerge in the preliminary stage after 18 rounds of battle.

Now, these four teams will enter into the play-off stage where winning is the only available option. The second stage of the competition will be played on a knock-out basis.

Shandong Luneng, as the top placed team in the league, was awarded with the opportunity to choose their opponent for the semi-final round. Zhu Yuling and company surprisingly selected the fourth ranking team, Bayi.

In the second round of the preliminary stage, Shandong Luneng suffered a three-two defeat against Bayi; their first loss in the season.

Zhu Yuling was the only player to  deliver the goods for Luneng. She crushed Sun Mingyang in the second match (11-3, 11-4, 11-3) and defeated Bayi’s top player Mu Zi in the fourth match (9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5). The remaining matches all went in favour of Bayi.

Mu Zi set the show on the road by overcoming Li Xiaodan (11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5). The doubles match went to Bayi with Liu Xin and Sun Mingyang accounting for Gu Yuting and Li Xiaodan (8-11, 12-10, 11-9) before Hu Limei defeated Gu Yuting in the decider (8-11, 11-7, 7-4).

Shandong Luneng redeemed themselves in the second encounter, overcoming Bayi in three-one overall score.

Meanwhile, the Anxin Team has enjoyed the upper hand against Shandong Qilu. In their two encounters during the preliminary stage, Anxin has emerged victorious. Liu Shiwen and company recorded a three-nil win against Qilu, led by Wu Yang, in the sixth round and then later, in the 15th round recorded a three-one win..

The women’s semi-final  will take place on Thursday 29th December; the winners will then proceed into the final round where the champion team will receive a prize of US$ 64,000.

Wednesday 28th December: Final Super League Results

Wednesday 28th December: Final Super League Team Positions

Wednesday 28th December: Final Super League Averages