by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

The no.4 seed, Noshad Alamiyan beat Yuki Matsuyama, the no.19 seed, as his status suggested; he won in six games (7-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 8-11, 16-14).

No great moments of anguish; it was somewhat different for Nima Alamian. The no.9 seed, like elder brother he won in six games but he caused an upset and moreover recovered from a two games to nil deficit (7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6).

Success contrary to expectations, it was the same from the Hong Kong’s Lam Siu Hang and Ng Pak Nam; both beat higher seeded players but I would venture to suggest that the win recorded by Lam Siu Hang was no surprise at all. The no.10 seed, he  beat compatriot, Jiang Tianyi, the no.2 seed (7-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5).

A question mark as to whether the success of Lam Siu Hang was an upset; there was no doubt about the win recorded by Ng Pak Nam, the no.14 seed, he overcame Korea’s Cho Seungmin, the no.3 seed (11-3, 11-4, 13-11, 11-6).

Defeat for the second seed but no such problems for Austria’s Robert Gardos, the top seed beat Italy’s Mihai Bobobica, the no.12 seed (9-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7). Similarly, Kazuhiro Yoshimura flew the flag for Japan, he overcame Frenchman, Abdel-Kader Salifou, the no.11 seed (11-9, 11-4, 11-8, 11-13, 1-11, 11-9).

Varying fortunes for Japan; it was the same for the host nation in the third round of the Men’s Singles event for the host nation. Alvaro Robles, the no.5 seed, accounted for Korea’s Seo Hyundeok, the no.13 seed (11-9, 11-13, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8); alas for Spain, Carlos Machado, the no.16 seed, experienced defeat when facing India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, the no.8 seed (6-11, 12-10, 11-6, 12-14, 11-7, 15-13).

At the quarter-final stage Robert Gardos meets Kazuhiro Yoshimura, Nima Alamian face Ng Pak Nam; in the opposite half vof the draw it is Noshad Alamiyan versus Sathiyan Gnanasekaran; Alvaro Robles versus Lam Siu Hang.

The matches will be played later today