by Ian Marshall, Editor

However, the day was not without drama.

Men’s Singles

…………China’s Xu Xin, the top seed and Ma Long, the no.11 seed, booked their semi-final places in emphatic style. Xu Xin beat Germany’s Patrick Franziska, the no.14 seed (8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7); in an even more imposing manner Ma Long overcame Japan’s Jun Mizutani, the no.9 seed (11-2, 11-6, 11-6, 15-13)

…………Sweden’s Mattias Karlsson, the 12 seed, caused a quarter-final upset and caused Japan more pain; he accounted for Tomokazu Harimoto, the no.3 seed, in seven games (11-8, 9-11, 11-1, 11-6, 8-11, 3-11, 11-5)

…………The brave run enjoyed by Chinese Taipei’s 17 year old Lin Yun-Ju came to a close; required to qualify he was eventually beaten by China’s Lin Gaoyuan, the no.2 seed (14-12, 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9)

…………A testing quarter-final for Lin Gaoyuan, it was an even more testing semi-final; he overcame Mattias Falck by the very narrowest of margins (7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10). Thus he avenged the defeat suffered just over four months ago in Stockholm

…………Hard work for Lin Gaoyuan; the win came after Ma Long had beaten Xu Xin (12-14, 11-6, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-6). The success suggesting Ma Long had been absent from the international scene for seven minutes rather than seven months

Women’s Singles

…………Liu Shiwen, the no.3 seed, underlined the fact that she has every intention to retain the title won one year ago. She beat Chinese national team colleague Wang Yidi in straight games (11-2, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4) to reserve her place in the final

…………Sun Yingsha won the battle of the qualifiers; in the quarter-final round she overcame He Zhuojia (6-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5)

Men’s Doubles

…………Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting, the no.3 seeds, beat Germany’s Timo Boll and Patrick Franziksa (11-4, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9) to secure the men’s doubles title.

Women’s Doubles

…………Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu, the no.2 seeds, donned the women’s doubles crown beating colleagues Ding Ning and Wang Yidi (12-14, 16-1, 11-6, 11-13, 11-4). Ding Ning and Wang Yidi, had started their journey in the qualification tournament

Mixed Doubles

…………Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, the no.5 seeds, beat Japan’s Masataka Morizono and Mima Ito, the no.4 seeds, to claim reserve the top step of the podium (11-5, 11-7, 11-7)