by Wade Townsend

Lee Sangsu (KOR) has rocked the world order here in Düsseldorf by defeating Zhang Jike (CHN) 4-1 at the Liebherr 2017 World Table Tennis Championships.

“Zhang Jike’s level has dropped lately. But I still had to play very well to win. If I played my best I knew I had a chance to win.” Lee Sangsu

After the match Zhang Jike reflected on the defeat.

“My opponent was very aggressive while I was a bit slow and my mental game was not very good. It was hard to find a loophole. If I won the fifth round I would have had a chance, but I was rather passive in this match. My preparation was the same as before and I’ve played him many times before. The quality of his shots were more fierce today, and mine were relatively poor. The mental aspect played a bigger role than the technical in my match today. My injury earlier in the year had no impact.” Zhang Jike