Review day three: Sun keeps shining in Chengdu, Tomokazu Harimoto departs

By Neha Aggarwal

Star of the day: Sun Yingsha

The 16 year old is taking the world by storm. Undefeated for nine matches in a row prior to the penultimate day of play, Sun Yingsha continued her winning streak and made it to eleven matches in a row!

She knocked out World no.4 Feng Tianwei in the quarter-finals in a lethal straight game (11-7, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7); later in the evening in her semi-final match, she thrashed World no.2 Liu Shiwen, by the same straight games score line of (13-11, 11-8, 11-6, 12-10)! She will now face Ding Ning in the final as she aims to win her second consecutive ITTF World Tour title.

Outlier of the Day: Timo Boll

Tomokazu Harimoto had knocked out Koki Niwa in the quarter-finals and the legendary Vladimir Samsonov in the first round. The world was waiting for another upset. But Timo Boll is an outlier. The much experienced German ended 13 year old Tomokazu Harimoto’s dream run with a comfortable four-one win (6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5) in the Men’s Singles semi-finals. Timo Boll was certainly tense. He admitted being nervous before the match but did not show any signs during the match as he dominated despite a tough start.

“Everyone knows he is a very strong player, but still you don’t want to lose against a cadet boy.” Timo Boll

Dominance of the day: Ding Ning’s victorious run

In the morning, Ding Ning did not break any sweat and cruised past Japan’s Miu Hirano in a five game win (11-2, 11-4, 11-5, 6-11, 12-10) to reach the Women’s Singles semi-finals. In the evening, she outstaged Chen Meng in a thrilling four-two win (9-11, 11-2, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9) asserting the fact that she is currently the best female table tennis player on earth. She looked extremly confident focused and hungry to win, not showing any signs of tiredness after a hectic outing at the Liebherr 2017 World Championships three weeks ago.

Now in the final she will face Sun Yingsha, winner of last week’s Japan Open. Will she survive the Sun test?

Surviver of the day: Dimitrij Ovtcharov

In the quarter-finals against Yuya Oshima, Dimitrij Ovtcharov literally survived. It was the closest match he has played in Chenngdu so far, winning a full seven games encounter. He won (10-12, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 13-15, 11-6). Ovtcharov won a total of 73 points, only five points more than Oshima’s 68!

Later in the semi-finals against World no.7 Wong Chun Ting, Dimitrij Ovtcharov survived a 4-2 thriller (6-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8). Ovtcharov had to go through a tough start, but after two-all, he gained his momentum and jumped into the final. After his win, he posted a semi-duck face picture his Facebook page: