Koreans make presence felt, testing times for host nation

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Neither required to compete in the opening round; Dean Shu, the no.8 seed, accounted for the host nation’s Bob Liang (11-7, 14-12, 11-7), whilst at the same time in all Australian clash, Lin Xuqi somewhat upset the odds. He overcame Dominic Huang, the no.7 seed, by the narrowest of five games margins (11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9).

Defeat for one seeded player but not for the other notable names with Korea in particular asserting authority.

Likewise, not required to compete in the opening round, Lim Jonghoon, Cho Seungmin, Park Ganghyeon and Kim Minhyeok, the respective top four seeds in the Under 21 Men’s Singles event, all emerged successful; all ended the hopes of Australian adversaries.

Lim Jonghoon beat Erny Tsao (11-1, 11-7, 11-9); Cho Seungmin overcame Fred Xu (11-2, 11-1, 11-3), whilst Park Ganghyeon accounted for Lyu Zhe (11-3, 11-1, 11-3). Three comprehensive wins, for Kim Minhyeok life was much more exacting; he needed the full five games to defeat Dillon Chambers (11-3, 13-15, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7).

“Being my first international tournament in 18 months it was tough to come up against the world number 155 in the second round. obviously for me it was a case of seeing how much I can do in this match with the aim of figuring out where my game is at compared to these players. Thankfully I came in well prepared, and managed to take it to two games all, and stay composed throughout most of the match but at 7-7 in the fifth I just held back in a couple of my service points and it probably cost me the match. Still happy with the result as it’s important for me to look to the future.” Dillon Chambers

Meanwhile, in the two remaining second round engagements, it was success for Chinese Taipei’s Sun Chia-Hung, the no.5 seed and for Japan’s Yuta Tanaka, the no.6 seed. Sun Chia-Hung beat New Zealand’s Kelsey Amor (11-7, 11-2, 11-2); Yuta Tanaka overcame Australia’s Olav Dahl (11-6, 11-3, 11-7).

At the quarter-final stage Lim Jonghoon meets Sun Chia-Hung, Kim Minhyeok confronts Lin Xuqi; in the lower half of the draw, Park Ganghyeon opposes Dean Shu, Cho Seugmin plays Yuta Tanaka.

The matches are scheduled for later in the day.