by Ian Marshall, Editor

Success for Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson but it was so nearly farewell.

Trailing two games to one, in the fourth game they established an 8-4 lead, only to lose the next six points. It was at that stage there was another major momentum change. Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson saved both match points; then won the next two to force a deciding fifth game.

“We made several mistakes but it’s the first time we have played together; in the last game we made a bad start.” Truls Moregard

Meanwhile, for Liao Cheng-Ting and Lin Yun-Ju, competing in no less than their tenth ITTF World Tour tournament of the year, a recovery after losing the opening game was needed.

“We played a little bit passively at the beginning; we changed after losing the opening game and became more active. It was vital to win the third game; I feel we played well.” Lin Yun-Ju

Defeat for Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford but a second ITTF World Tour Men’s Doubles semi-final of the year; in August in Bulgaria, they had reached the penultimate round, losing to Japan’s Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima.

“We made a good start but our opponents changed their approach, we played more passively; we are disappointed but we played well today.” Paul Drinkhall

The final of the Men’s Doubles event is scheduled for the morning of Sunday 3rd November and follows immediately the Women’s Doubles title decider.