by Ian Marshall, Editor
At the quarter-final stage of the Under 21 Men’s Singles event, Darko Jorgic, the no.2 seed, accounted for Sweden’s Truls Moregard, the no.8 seed (11-9, 11-3, 15-13).
Likewise as status predicted, in the opposite half of the draw, Yuto Kizukuri prevailed. The top seed, he beat Deni Kozul, the no.11 seed and like Darko Jorgic from Slovenia; he succeeded in a contest that was arguably closer than three straight games may suggest, every game was decided by the minimal two point margin (12-10, 12-10, 11-9).
Wins as status predicted, in the other quarter-final contests, there were upsets. Koyo Kanamitsu, the no.14 seed, overcame Austria’s Andreas Levenko, the no.5 seed (11-9, 10-12, 13-11, 11-6); Yuki Matsuyama, the no.14 seed, halted the aspirations of Aliaksandr Khanin of Belarus the no.6 seed (11-4, 11-9, 11-6).
In the penultimate round, Yuto Kizukuri meets Koyo Kanamitsu; Yuki Matsuyama faces Darko Jorgic.
Slovenia versus Japan; at the semi-final stage of the Under 21 Women’s Singles event, it is Japan versus China.
Impressive wins were the order of the day with Miyu Nagasaki, the no.2 seed, ending the reign of Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz, the no.8 seed (11-8, 12-10, 11-7), the winner one year ago when beating Germany’s Nina Mittelham in the final.
A straight games win for Miyu Nagasaki; it was the same for Zhang Rui and Wang Yidi. Offering no charity, Zhang Rui, the no.3 seed, beat Maki Shiomi, the no.11 seed and like Miyu Nagasaki from Japan (11-6, 11-8, 11-7); Wang Yidi, the no.4 seed, accounted for Croatia’s Sun Jiayi, the no.23 seed (11-5, 11-8, 11-4).
The only Under 21 Women’s Singles quarter-final not decided in straight games was when colleagues met; Chen Ke, the top seed, ended the journey of Sin Mingyang, the no.10 seed, in four games (11-6, 17-15, 8-11, 12-10).
Places in the semi-finals booked; Chen Ke meets Zhang Rui, Wang Yidi opposes Miyu Nagasaki.
Both the Under 21 Men’s Singles and Under 21 Women’s Singles events will be played to a conclusion on Wednesday 22nd August.
