by Simon Daish

Liu Shiwen (China) is through to the final after putting in a strong performance against Korea Republic’s Yang Haeun.

Yang Haeun was a surprise fixture in the last four having caused one of the biggest upsets at the 2016 China Open with her seventh game victory over Zhu Yuling, and two consecutive 4-3 wins for Liu Shiwen prior to the semis set up an intriguing encounter in the penultimate round.

Head-to-head statistics suggested a comfortable scoreline for Liu as Yang had never managed to take a game off of the world number one on the World Tour previously, and the Korean player will have to wait until a later date to amend that record as Yang was condemned to another straight games loss.

The start of the match saw both players display wonderful attacking Table Tennis, a theme that would extend throughout the tie, but one contestant stood out as Liu gained a 2-0 advantage.

Despite Yang Haeun’s best efforts, factoring in that she was taking on the top seed, not to mention the overwhelming crowd support for Liu Shiwen, a 4-0 defeat marked the end of the road for the Korean player in Chengdu (11-7, 11-2, 11-8, 11-3).

“I played better than Yang Haeun today in the speed and the spins. I will try my best in the final to win point by point” – Liu Shiwen (China).

Latest Results

Sunday 18th September: Women’s Singles – Main Draw