by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
On Wednesday 21st March he booked his place in the semi-finals of the Under 21 Men’s Singles event at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open; the no.15 seed, he accounted for Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic, the no.6 seed (14-12, 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7), prior to overcoming China’s Yu Ziyang the no.35 seed (13-11, 11-6, 2-11, 12-10)
Success against a player ten places lower on the original seeding may not appear a stunning result but in 2014 Yu Ziyang was crowned World Junior champion , having earlier in the year accounted for the host nation’s Jun Mizutani in the final of the ITTF World Tour Japan Open. Furthermore, in Bremen, Yu Ziyang was in good form; one round earlier he had beaten Japan’s Yuto Kizukuri, the no.3 seed (11-8, 12-10, 11-7).
An outstanding performance from Truls Moregard; he was not alone. Korea’s An Jaehyun, the no.28 seed, accounted for Japan’s Mizuki Oikawa, the top seed (14-12, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9), before recovering from a two games to nil deficit to end the hopes of Kanak Jha of the United States, the no.23 seed (4-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8).
Success for Korea but on the reverse side of the coin there were defeats for Lim Jonghoon and Cho Daeseong. Lim Jonghoon, the no.5 seed and winner of the Men’s Singles title the previous week at the 2018 ITTF Challenge Polish Open experienced a quarter-final exit. After establishing a two games to nil lead, he was beaten by Frenchman, Joe Seyfried, the no.4 seed (11-3, 7-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9), the second round winner in opposition to Japan’s Masaki Takami, the no.10 seed (9-11, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6).
Meanwhile, for Cho Daeseong, the no.21 seed, it was a second round defeat at the hands of Hungary’s Bence Majoros, the no.9 seed (11-7, 11-7, 11-7); alas for Bence Majoros there was no further progress. In the round of the last eight he experienced defeat at the hands of Romania’s Rares Sipos, the no.11 seed (13-11, 3-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-3). In round two, Rares Sipos had beaten Austria’s Andreas Levenko, the no.7 seed (11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9) and the runner up the previous week in Poland.
At the semi-final stage, An Jaehyun meets Truls Moregard; Joe Seyfried opposes Rares Sipos
The Under 21 Men’s Singles event will be played to a conclusion on Thursday 22nd March.
