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Call it pure joy, ecstasy even when Dean Shu won his first Table Tennis New Zealand’s men’s singles title on an unforgettable night in Invercargill.
Shu jumped and jumped when the final point was won against top seed Teng Teng Liu. He roared like he’d just won Lotto, screaming into the wide-open spaces at Stadium Southland before racing over to hug his support crew of older sister Sophie and her partner Adam Hugh.
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And then he went really wild with uncontrollable joy. He lifted off his shirt, hurling it into the Invercargill crowd just after 8pm on Saturday. And everyone loved it. This was Shu’s moment, and no one could deny him.
In a match of very small margins, he had nailed the key moments better in a four-games-to-two win over Liu, who was gunning for his eighth New Zealand men’s singles title to equal the record set by Barry Griffiths. But it wasn’t to be. This was Shu’s time, his 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 11-6 victory so thoroughly deserved.
And what did it mean to the Auckland 24-year-old and event second seed to win the big one?
He found it hard to explain, as is often the way in the minutes following such a victory, but there was talk about following a process before the real truth emerged.
As a little boy, and watching his sister enjoy table tennis success and set the standard, there had only ever been one goal for Shu, whose only other national singles title was the under-18 boys, which he won as a 16-year-old.
“Of course, the goal was always this championship,’’ he said, the high fives and congratulations from fans coming thick and fast.
“So, this has been the star that I have aligned all my plans to, ever since I was very young.’’
It was also just Shu’s second victory over Liu but his first in a final.
Coping with the pressure was a real focus and he also took advantage of top seed Liu’s slight lack of big event sharpness, his only other tournament appearance this year being the Auckland open in August.
“At the nationals, I feel like I haven’t felt dealt with the pressure so good,’’ Shu said.
“But this time I tried to focus on what was in my control, what I could do.’’
That included calling what proved to be a match-decisive time out with Shu leading 7-6 in the sixth game. It worked because he won the next four points in succession to win the championship.
“I just needed a rest, needed to rest my mind and it helped.’’
It wasn’t the only super result for Shu, who combined with American-based Hugh to beat Matthew Ball and Max Henderson in straight sets to win the men’s open doubles final.
The Shu family success didn’t go all the way in the women’s singles where Sophie was edged in a six-game semifinal thriller by Auckland’s Joanna Yang.
It was a win that must have taken it out of Yang, who had to withdraw from the women’s singles final, gifting the title to overwhelming hot favourite Hannah Li.
The teenager, who only arrived in New Zealand at the beginning of the year from Hong Kong, dominated the nationals by also winning the under-19 and under-21 girls to underline her class, plus the open mixed doubles with Max Henderson.
But, as good as Li was, Saturday night was Dean Shu’s. Make no mistake about that. National men’s singles champion at last.