by Ian Marshall, Editor

Defeat for China but as places in the title deciding contests in both the Boys’ Singles and Girls’ Singles events were determined, there were no such misfortunes; furthermore, the outcomes were according to seeding and according to past performances.

In the counterpart Boys’ Singles semi-final contest, Xu Haidong, the no.3 seed, accounted for Romania’s Cristian Pletea, the no.5 seed (11-5, 11-3, 11-8, 11-6) and thus repeated the success he had enjoyed in opposition to the Romanian earlier this year. He had beaten Cristian Pletea in the Under 21 Men’s Singles event at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Asarel Bulgaria Open in Panagyurishte.

Meanwhile, at the semi-final stage of the Girls’ Singles event, the top two seeds prevailed. Shi Xunyao ended the brave run of Japan’s Yumeno Soma, the no.23 seed (11-3, 11-4, 11-2, 11-9); Qian Tianyi halted the progress of Chinese Taipei’s Su Pei-Ling, the no.7 seed (12-10, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8).

Success for Shi Xunyao and Qian Tianyi, it was repeat success. At the 2017 Hong Kong Junior and Cadet Open, Shi Xunyao had beaten Yumeno Soma in the Girls’ Team event, before this year at the Asian Junior and Cadet Championships, she had prevailed in both the Junior Girls’ Team and Cadet Girls’ Team competitions.

Similarly, Qian Tianyi had succeeded in both prior meetings against Su Pei-Ling; in 2015 she had won when they met in the Cadet Girls’ Singles event at the Asian Junior and Cadet Championships, before in 2016 at the Hong Kong Junior and Cadet Open repeating the success in the Junior Girls’ Team competition.

The finals of the Boys’ Singles and Girls’ Singles events will be played later in the day.