Vladimir Samsonov departs, for the last time?

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Impressive, positive from the very first point, Lee Sangsu prove too fast for his more senior adversary (11-9, 11-1, 11-3, 11-9), on an evening that saw mixed fortunes for Korea. The win was recorded prior to Jeong Sangeun, the no.44 seed, experiencing defeat at the hands of Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting, the 7 seed (11-7, 13-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7).

“I just tried to find my game; the first game was difficult for both players. After that he played more relaxed. I was missing some easy balls and he was playing very well. Maybe this year I will continue playing, but what will happen after I don’t know.” Vladimir Samsonov

Time and again Vladimir Samsonov, as stylish as ever was forced into the passive role; matching the power of attacking strokes from the Korean was a task too far.

“It’s my first time in the quarter-finals of a World Championship. I’m very, very, happy. I only thought one point and one point and attack, attack. I was good today, but Samsonov was so so. He seemed slow.” Lee Sangsu

Success for Lee Sangsu; to the delight of the crowd there was also success for Timo Boll, the no.8 seed. He accounted for Portugal’s Marcos Freitas, the no.14 seed (5-11, 11-7, 15-13, 11-9, 11-6).

The win for Timo Boll means that in the quarter-finals he meets China’s Ma Long, the top seed, he overcame Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan, the no.9 seed, in four straight games (11-8, 13-11, 11-1, 11-6).

In the same half of the draw, Japan’s 13 year old Tomokazu Harimoto, the no.53 seed, faces the winner of the all Chinese contest between Xu Xin, the no.3 seed and Lin Gaoyuan, the no.33 seed.

Earlier, Tomokazu Harimoto accounted for the Slovak Republic’s Lubomir Pistej (12-10, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9).

Meanwhile, in the lower half of the draw, Lee Sangsu meets Wong Chun Ting; China’s Fan Zhendong, the no.2 seed, faces the winner of the contest that features Japan’s Koki Niwa, the no.10 seed against the host nation’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the no.5 seed.

In the morning session of play, Fan Zhendong ended the adventures of Germany’s Ruwen Filus, the no.26 seed (13-11, 11-13, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 11-3).

The two remaining fourth round Men’s Singles matches in addition to all the quarter-final contests will be completed on Sunday 4th June.