by Ian Marshall, Editor

The reverse meant the end of the road for Jang Woojin; Yu Ziyang having the previous day beaten Cho Daeseong, also from Korea Republic (7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7) thus concluded the group unbeaten and in top spot, first place the only option in order to progress to the main draw.

“Losing is always painful but I think I still played well. The problem is Yu Ziyang was the better player today. I will make sure to have a better match next time. Today he made wonderful receives that was hard for me to counter. I failed to lock him down.” Jang Woojin

The vagaries of sport, just as last week, after several fine performances earlier this year, the win in Daejeon was arguably a success waiting to happen for Jang Woojin.  Is that not the same for Yu Ziyang but have we not been waiting longer and having our doubts? Are we not waiting for him to deliver a performance that stirs the imagination?

In 2014 he was crowned World Junior champion, having earlier in the year won the Men’s Singles title on the ITTF World Tour in Japan. On that occasion, he beat the host nation’s Jun Mizutani in the final; at the time he was the youngest such winner.

“I am quite happy with my performance because I felt I was getting and better throughout the tournament. Jang inspired me and pushed me to do better.” Yu Ziyang

Success for Yu Ziyang and one wonders could that be a result that be the result to spark greater things?