by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
It is now the second time that Ding Ning has beaten Miu Hirano since her loss at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF Asian Championships in Wuxi just over two months; she beat Miu Hirano at the semi-final stage at the recent Liebherr 2017 World Championships in Düsseldorf.
Notably the win recorded by Ding Ning was very much in the same vein as the success secured in Düsseldorf; in the German city she had also won in five games (11-4, 11-8, 11-5, 5-11, 11-5).
However, in the immediate ensuing quarter-final contest, the Düsseldorf decision was reversed.
At the quarter-final stage of the Women’s Singles event at the Liebherr 2017 World Championships, Chen Meng had experienced a six games defeat (17-15, 8-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4) at the hands of Chinese national team colleague, Zhu Yuling; in Chengdu, the decision was reversed.
Chen Meng, the no.5 seed, beat Zhu Yuling, the no.3 seed, in a full distance duel that concluded with a strangely one sided decided game (7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 14-12, 7-11, 11-1).
Ding Ning now meets Chen Meng in the semi-finals; the match is scheduled for later today at 6.30pm (local time).
