Tomorrow’s meeting between Ma and Fan in the Chinese city will be a repeat of the final in 2019 and 2017, as well as last week’s ITTF Men’s World Cup showdown.

Fan clinched the title all three occasions.

Ma, who is nine years older than Fan, will be looking to end that record and secure his sixth ITTF Finals crown - and first since 2016.

The reigning world and Olympic champion dropped the first game against Chinese compatriot Xu Xin today before running out an 11-13, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 winner.

Fan also needed five games to progress as he ended South Korean Jang Woo-jin's run with an 11-8, 11-4, 13-15, 11-8, 11-5 victory.

The 23-year-old world number one is bidding to secure his third ITTF Finals title.

"It was a really tight game today," said China's Fan.

"Even though I won, I didn’t think I performed to my best."

There will also be an all-Chinese final in the women’s singles, with Chen due to face Wang Manyu tomorrow.

Chen is on track to create her own slice of history as she seeks an unprecedented fourth straight success in the competition.

The world number one defeated compatriot Sun Yingsha 11-9, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10 at the Zhengzhou Olympic Sports Center today.

"The result was unexpected," said Chen.

"This is the third time we have played in a very short time span.

"Even though it looked one-sided, every game had it’s crucial moments when things were tight and I feel lucky to win the match."

Wang also came through in impressive fashion as she saw off Japan’s Mima Ito 11-3, 11-4, 11-9, 11-6, but expects a tough encounter against Chen.

"I will try to take away as much as I can from tomorrow’s match," Wang said.

"On current form and ability, Chen is on another level."

The ITTF Finals have replaced the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, which were cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and feature only men's singles and women's singles.

The competition concludes tomorrow.