by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Time and again he threw caution to the wind against his opponent, a player of a much safer nature; above all he delighted the crowd, they warmed to efforts as he powered his way to victory.

“It’s unbelievable, but I’m so happy right now! We are both 15 years old, we had a very good match, he is very safe, we both played very well, both of us didn’t miss, we had some amazing rallies. I had better tactics than him in the end, I’m really happy right now. I had no fear in the match, he had all the pressure. I’m not seeded in this tournament and I know I can play to a good level, so I just played my game and I knew I could win. A resurgence in Sweden, you never know but I hope so. I play a little bit like Waldner with my backhand. I have good mentality. I have lost many close matches in the year, but I have learned from these and now I win this match.” Truls Moregard

A seven games win for Truls Moregard, for Xue Fei, life was less traumatic, the top seed, against colleague Wang Chuqin, the no.5 seed, he dominated matters from start to finish, a straight games success was the order of the day (11-9, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7).

“I didn’t expect that I could win four-nil, because we play against each other a lot so we know each other very well. Before the match I was ready to play seven games against Chuqin. Today I was able to move around fast and take more initiative. Chuqin on the other hand was slower in getting into the match, and made many unforced errors, so I was able to take the chance to win this match.”

The final will be played later in the afternoon