by Ian Marshall, Editor

Otherwise, the leading names progressed; significantly in the women’s events Japan made its presence felt.

Men’s Singles

…………after beating India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta, the no.5 seed (12-10, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10), at the quarter-final stage Croatia’s Tomislav Pucar, the no.20 seed, caused an even bigger upset; he accounted for Chinese Taipei, Chuang Chih-Yuan, the no.2 seed (14-12, 11-7, 7-11, 8-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6)

…………India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran continued to underline progress made in the past year; the no.5 seed, he beat Frenchman Emmanuel Lebesson, the no.7 seed (11-9, 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10), to book his place in the semi-final round

…………Sweden’s Mattias Falck, the top seed, beat Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan, the no.19 seed 11-5, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9) to ensure progress to the penultimate round

…………Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Jun impressed; the no.3 seed, at the quarter-final stage the 17 year old beat Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia, the no.9 seed, in straight games (11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9)

Women’s Singles

…………Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching, the top seed, was stretched to the limit in her quarter-final encounter against Japan’s Honoka Hashimoto, the no.6 seed (3-11, 14-12, 4-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8)

…………winner in 2017, after beating Japanese colleague, Saki Shibata, the defending champion and no.4 seed (10-12, 11-6, 14-12, 11-9, 11-7); Hina Hayata, the no.9 seed, ousted Romania’s Bernadette Szocs, the no.5 seed (11-6, 11-6, 11-3, 11-7).

…………in the quarter-final round, the defensive skills of Hitomi Sato, the no.3 seed, proved too secure for Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut, the no.8 seed (11-2, 8-11, 9-11, 11-0, 11-1, 11-8)

…………The progress of Belarus qualifier, Viktoria Pavlovich came to an end; at the quarter-final stage she beaten by Miu Hirano (11-2, 11-3, 11-6, 11-4). Thus Japan secured three of the four semi-final places

Men’s Doubles

…………Required to qualify, at the semi-final stage Russia’s Denis Ivonin and Vladimir Sidorenko beat Belgium’s Martin Allegro and Florent Lambiet, the no.2 seeds (11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7). In the final they meet the top seeds, the Chinese Taipei’s Liao Cheng-Ting and Lin Yun-Ju; they booked their place in the final by ousting Japanese qualifiers, Takuya Jin and Mizuki Oikawa (13-11, 15-13, 14-12)

Women’s Doubles

…………An all Japanese final awaits; in the penultimate round Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato, the top seeds, beat Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut and Wu Yue of the United States, the no.3 seeds (11-8, 11-6, 11-9); Satsuki Odo and Saki Shibata, the no.2 seeds, overcame Russia’s Yana Noskova and Mariia Tailakova, the no.4 seeds (11-7, 11-6, 16-14).

Mixed Doubles

…………Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching, the top seeds, struck gold. In the final they beat qualifiers Russia’s Vladimir Sidorenko and Mariia Tailakova (7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8)

Under 21 Men’s Singles

…………Vladimir Sidorenko beat Russian colleague Artur Abusev (6-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-7) to secure his first such title

Under 21 Women’s Singles

…………Japan’s Satsuki Odo won the under 21 women’s singles title; in the final she beat India’s Archana Girish Kamath in three straight games (11-7, 11-8, 11-6)

Quotes of the Day

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