by Simon Daish
Mixed Day At The Office For Chinese Taipei
Chen Chien-An is the sole Chinese Taipei representative remaining in the Men’s Singles draw but the seventh seed very nearly missed out on a place in the quarter-finals, requiring a massive comeback effort to eliminate Spain’s Alvaro Robles from the competition (9-11, 9-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7).
Relief for Chen Chien-An but for two of his fellow countrymen it was a day of disappointment. Qualifier Liao Cheng-Ting narrowly lost out to fourth seed Hugo Calderano (11-6, 7-11, 6-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 3-11) while second seed Chuang Chih-Yuan suffered a surprise straight games exit to China’s Wang Chuqin (9-11, 9-11, 6-11, 8-11) who moves through to the last eight.
Danish competitor Jonathan Groth, seeded 13th, caused a notable upset in the Round of 16 with a fine outing against the no.5 seed Ruwen Filus (11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-2, 11-9) and is joined in the last eight by fellow Europeans Patrick Franziska and Kristian Karlsson.
Chinese Stars Earn Quarter-Finals Spots
Sun Yingsha is one of the brightest up-and-coming players emerging from China but the teenage ace came close to a shock exit on day two of the Seamaster 2018 Hungarian Open.
The 17-year-old was pushed right down to the wire by Portugal’s Fu Yu, defeating the 15th seed in the deciding game (12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-13, 11-5, 2-11, 11-4) to book a quarter-finals tie with Lee Ho Ching, second seed, following her victory over Singapore’s Zeng Jian (11-6, 11-6, 11-3, 11-7).
One Chinese contestant did fall in the last 16, but He Zhuojia’s elimination came at the hands of compatriot Chen Meng (8-11, 12-10, 2-11, 11-4, 3-11, 2-11). Chen Xingtong and Wang Manyu also progressed.
Top Seeded Partnerships Denied Title Challenge
Germany’s Patrick Franziska and Denmark’s Jonathan Groth won’t be involved in the Men’s Doubles gold medal match after the no.1 seeds lost out to sixth seeds Fan Zhendong and Yu Ziyang by a comfortable four games to nil scoreline (6-11, 5-11, 7-11).
There was equal disappointment for the top seeded pairing in the Women’s Doubles category as the Hong Kong duo of Doo Hoi Kem and Lee Ho Ching exited to Chen Xingtong and Sun Yingsha (4-11, 11-8, 5-11, 6-11) while a victory for Chen Ke and Wang Manyu in the other semi-finals fixture guarantees the title win for China.
