by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
India’s Himnakulhpuingheta Jeho, the no.6 seed, having the previous day, finished in second place in his first stage group suffered a second round defeat at the hands of Korea’s Park Gyeongtae, the no.8 seed (11-6, 11-4, 11-5).
Defeat for Himnakulhpuingheta Jeho, there was also a second round reverse for Iran’s Radin Khayyam, the no.5 seed, he was beaten by Korea’s Kim Minwoo (11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 8-11, 14-12).
Surprise last eight places, the appearance of China’s Kuang Li, the no.8 seed, was no surprise but that of colleague Zhu Jiaqi was not necessarily to be anticipated. He kept his medal hopes alive courtesy of success against Hong Kong’s Yu Nok (7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4).
At the quarter-final stage, Jacobo Vahnish meets Zhu Jiaqi, Kuang Li opposes Andy Wong Yan Kai; in the opposite half of the draw, Xiang Peng plays Park Gyeongtae, Kim Minsoo faces Payas Jain.
Meanwhile, in the Cadet Girls’ Singles, Hong Kong’s Ng Wing Lam, the top seed, duly progressed to the quarter-final round as did China’s Chen Yi, the no.3 seed and Japan’s Haruna Ojio, the no.5 seed but for the remaining leading names there were no reservations.
Korea’s Byun Seoyoung beat both Hong Kong’s Zhou Jingyi, the no.2 seed (11-3, 11-5, 11-5) and Sweden’s Rebecca Muskantor, the no.4 seed (11-7, 11-4, 12-14, 11-7); both having finished in second places in their respective groups the previous day. Meanwhile, India’s Nithya Mani, the no.8 seed, experienced an opening round defeat at the hands of Korea’s Kim Nayeong (11-5. 11-9, 11-5) who, in turn, experienced defeat at the hands of Haruna Ojio (11-7, 11-6, 11-5).
In the round of the last eight Ng Wing Lam meets India’s Tisha Gogoi, Byun Seoyoung opposes Chen Yi; in the opposite half of the draw Korea’s Kim Jimin faces Haruna Ojio, Hong Kong’s Phoebe Hui Wai confronts China’s Fan Zhuhan.
Play in Bangkok concludes on Sunday 13th May.
