by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Both experienced defeat at the hands of lower seeded opposition; thus one may assume they were surprise defeats. Not really both lost to World champions; there was more than a degree of consolation in defeat.
The no.6 seeds, Ruwen Filus and Ricardo Walther suffered at the hands of Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An and Chuang Chih-Yuan, the winners of the Men’s Doubles title at the Liebherr 2013 World Championships in Paris but required to qualify in Bremen; they were beaten in five games (4-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8).
Meanwhile for Patrick Franziska and Jonathan Groth, the no.2 seeds, they experienced defeat at the hands of China’s Ma Long and Xu Xin, the no.5 seeds, winners at the GAC 2011 World Championships in Rotterdam. The European duo suffered in four games (11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 11-1).
Success against higher seeded opposition but no surprise; I would suggest it was the same regarding the demise of the top seeds. Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting lost to Korea’s Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu, the no.7 seeds and a pair in form; just six days ago they had emerged successful at the ITTF Challenge Polish Open in Spala. Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu prevailed in four games (11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8),
Somewhat differently in the one remaining Men’s Doubles quarter-final, matters advanced as status advised; in an all Japanese clash Tomokazu Harimoto and Masataka Morizono, the no.3 seeds, beat Jun Mizitani and Yuya Oshima, the no.8 seeds (11-13, 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3).
“It’s amazing, we are very happy to win, because the last time we played against them, we lost three-two in Qatar. We have been practising for one week in Germany, really good high quality training; today we won three-two. It was a tough match, it’s never easy against Jun and Yuya. Today at two-two, they felt more pressure and made some mistakes; that’s why we could win.” Masataka Morizono
At the semi-final stage Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu meet Tomokazu Harimoto and Masataka Morizono; Chen Chien-An Chuang Chih-Yuan face Ma Long and Xu Xin. The matches are scheduled for Saturday 24th March.
