by Ian Marshall, Editor

A major upset, perhaps not; results gained earlier this year on the ITTF World Junior Circuit suggest otherwise; currently he leads the Standings having won in both the Czech Republic and in France, whilst being the runner up in Italy.

Success contrary to status for Yu Heyi, it was the same for colleague Xu Yingbin; he accounted for Ioannis Sgouropoulos of Greece, the no.4 seed in what proved the closest contest of the round. The 17 year old recovered from a three games to one deficit to eventually emerge successful (7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-4).

Hard fought success, it was very much the same for a third Chinese teenager in the guise of 15 year old Xiang Peng. The no.8 seed, he needed six games to beat Japan’s Shunsuke Togami, the no.12 seed (15-17, 11-9, 13-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6), as did India’s Manav Vikash Thakkar, the no.2 seed, when opposing Chinese Taipei’s Feng Yi-Hsin, the no.11 seed (11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 14-12, 11-1).

Notable progress for China, despite the defeat experienced by Shunsuke Togami, there was progress for Japan. Yuta Tanaka, the no.7 seed, beat Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen, the no.13 seed (11-9, 11-6, 11-13, 11-6, 11-3); Yukiya Uda, the no.9 seed, upset the order of merit, he ended the hopes of Romania’s Rares Sipos, the no.6 seed (11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 13-11, 13-11).

Defeat for Romania but there was most creditable success: Cristian Pletea delivered the most imposing performance of the round. In four straight games he beat Chinese Taipei’s Li Hsin-Yang, the no.14 seed (11-6, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3).

At the quarter-final stage Yu Heyi meets Cristian Pletea, Yuta Tanaka faces Xu Haidong; on the opposite half of the draw Xu Yingbin plays Yukiya Uda, Xiang Peng confronts Manav Vikash Thakkar.

The matches will be staged later in the day in the evening session of play.