by Ian Marshall, Editor
The local boy provided the drama; Lin Gaoyuan performed one of the all-time great escapes.
Men’s Singles
…………Lin Gaoyuan, the no.3 seed, saved a total of nine match points in the seventh game against Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the no.12 seed, before emerging successful (9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 17-15).
…………China’s Ma Long, the no.11 seed and defending champion booked his quarter-final place by overcoming Japan’s Koki Niwa, the no.8 seed (11-4, 11-5, 11-5, 11-2).
…………Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting, the no.14 seed and Liang Jingkun, the no.9 seed, emerged surprise names to book quarter-final places. In the second round, Wong Chun Ting beat Frenchman Simon Gauzy (11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9), Liang Jingkun ousted Brazil’s Hugo Calderano, the no.7 seed (8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6).
…………Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, the no.4 seed, extracted revenge; beaten by England’s Liam Pitchford on the two previous occasion when they had met in 2018, the 15 year old prevailed in straight games (11-8, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8).
…………China’s Fan Zhendong, the top seed and Xu Xin, the no.2 seed, both recorded second round wins; Fan Zhendong ended the adventures of Slovakia’s Lubomir Pistej (11-7, 7-11, 11-0, 11-8, 12-10), Xu Xin accounted for Japan’s Jun Mizutani, the no.13 seed (11-4, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7).
…………Former champion, Germany’s Timo Boll reserved his last eight place but he was tested; the no.5 seed, he needed the full seven games to beat China’s Yu Ziyang (11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 13-15, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8).
Women’s Singles
…………China’s Chen Xingtong emerged the surprise quarter-finalist; in the second round she beat Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa, the no.6 seed, in straight games (11-6, 11-5, 11-8, 11-5).
…………The respective top two seeds, the host nation’s Ding Ning and Zhu Yuling imposed their authority on proceedings. In the second round, Ding Ning beat Japan’s Miu Hirano, the no.9 seed (11-9, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7); Zhu Yuling ended the progress of compatriot, Qian Tianyi (11-8, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6).
…………Mima Ito flew the flag for Japan; the no.7 seed, she accounted for Singapore’s Feng Tianwei, the no.10 seed (11-6, 11-8, 14-12, 11-9) to reserve her last eight place.
…………China’s Liu Shiwen and Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching ended European hopes. In round two, Liu Shiwen, the no.5 seed, beat Austria’s Sofia Polcanova (11-8, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5); Cheng I-Ching, the no.8 seed, overcame Romania’s Bernadette Szocs, the no.16 seed (14-12, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 13-15, 11-8).
…………China’s Chen Meng booked her quarter-final place in style; the no.3 seed, in round two she beat DPR Korea’s Kim Song I (11-6, 11-8, 11-6, 11-5).
…………Defending champion, China’s Wang Manyu made her intentions clear. The no.4 seed, she recorded a five games win in opposition to Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu (11-5, 12-14, 14-12, 11-8, 11-5).
Men’s Doubles
…………Ma Long and Wang Chuqin beat Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu and Spain’s Alvaro Robles (9-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-2) in a repeat of the World Championships final, before recording a semi-final success against Korea’s Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu, the top seeds (11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10).
…………Germany’s Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska overcame Korea Republic’s Jang Woojin and Lim Jonghoon, the no.3 seeds and winners at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals (11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 2-11, 11-9) to reserve their place in the final.
Women’s Doubles
…………Wang Manyu and Zhu Yuling, the top seeds, beat DPR Korea’s Cha Hyo Sim and Kim Nam Hae, the no.5 seeds (11-9, 11-5, 11-6) to reach the final.
…………Gu Yuting and Liu Shiwen secured their place in the final by ousting Japan’s Honami Nakamori and Satsuki Odo (11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7).
Mixed Doubles
…………Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching excelled. The no.4 seeds, they beat Xu Xin and Cheng Meng (11-6, 11-9, 11-9), followed by success against Japan’s Koki Niwa and Mima Ito (13-11, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8) to secure a place in the gold medal contest.
…………Chinese Taipei’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem reached the final but the hard way. They needed the full five games to beat Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Kasumi Ishikawa, the no.8 seeds (11-8, 3-11, 11-8, 10-12, 12-10), before overcoming DPR Korea’s Han Yu Song and Cha Hyo Sim in a similar hard fought contest (11-7, 7-11, 4-11, 12-10, 11-4).
