Korean pair retains title
Men’s Doubles: Final
Champions last year in Geelong, Korea Republic’s Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu have successfully reached the top step of the men’s doubles podium for the second year running.
The top seeded pair needed just three games to pass the test, brushing China’s Lin Gaoyuan and Ma Long aside with a fantastic display (11-6, 11-8, 11-6). Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu have now won five men’s doubles gold medals on the ITTF World Tour stage.
Winners in Busan, winners in Geelong
Women’s Doubles: Final
Chen Meng and Wang Manyu have won back-to-back women’s doubles titles on the ITTF World Tour. Gold medallists last week in Busan, the Chinese pair have also taken the plaudits in Geelong.
Meeting the second seeded duo of Jeon Jihee and Yang Haeun at the final hurdle, top seeds Chen Meng and Wang Manyu were simply a class above their Korean opponents, posting a 3-1 win (11-6, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6) to claim their third-ever women’s doubles trophy as a partnership on the ITTF World Tour.
Hugo Calderano fights hard but ultimately falls
Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals
No.7 seed Hugo Calderano is out of the men’s singles race but the Brazilian can leave with his head held high following a thrilling encounter with World no.1 Xu Xin.
The penhold specialist from China enjoyed the stronger start of the two, coming out on top in the opening three games to establish a commanding lead. Calderano managed to claw his way back into the tie with back-to-back game wins, cutting the deficit to one. However, that’s as good as it got for the Latin American star with Xu taking game six to finish 4-2 ahead (11-7, 12-10, 11-5, 8-11, 7-11, 11-9).
Fine run continues for German competitor
Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals
Patrick Franziska is though to the last four of the men’s singles competition in Geelong following a marathon contest with 2019 World Championships finalist Mattias Falck.
Seeded 15th, seven places below his Swedish counterpart, Germany’s Franziska found himself up against the ropes at 1-3 down but showed great courage and determination to form the perfect response: refusing to throw in the towel, Franziska picked up the next three games in a row to seal an epic 4-3 victory (11-6, 10-12, 9-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9).
Two for Wong and Doo
Mixed Doubles: Final
A proper duel was in showing as Japan’s Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito clashed with Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem in the mixed doubles’ final.
Playing their first final as a pair, Jun and Mima took an early game lead with strong offensive shot play. Last week’s winners Wong and Doo came back to take the Gold with three straight games, assuring fans they can play wonderfully outside of Korea too-where they have now won twice (Busan and Incheon). The Hong Kong duo will be extremely ecstatic with these two weeks, which is certain to nail down their pairing for sometime (5-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-9).
Wang sees off Liang
Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals
In yet another all-China knockout match, Wang Chuqin prevailed over Liang Jingkun in straight games.
These two had the opposite outcome in February, when Liang was victorious in the 2019 Portugal Open. Today, the fortunes reversed as Wang won by the same scoreline 4:1 as he had lost four months ago. Overall the match was a close one, lasting nearly an hour and keeping the fans on the edge of their seats, as Wang exacted revenge over his Chinese compatriot.
Long live the Dragon
Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals
When the Dragon roars, no one stands in his way. Ma Long was in imperious mood this morning as he continued his good form against Chinese compatriot Lin Gaoyuan with a 4:0 victory.
Having won all three meetings this year versus Lin-in the Qatar Open, China Open & the World Championships-Ma knew what he would be up against. This match was a tribute to just how well prepared the Chinese veteran is before games, attacking Lin on his backhand on every serve. It was with that game plan that it took Ma no more than 30 minutes to book a place in the final four.
Queen of Hearts breaks Japanese hopes
Women’s Singles: Semifinals
It was the case of who’s got the greater grit, as the second semifinal in the women’s singles here in Australia turned out to be a roller-coaster ride. China’s Ding Ning came out on top after an impressive fight put up by Japan’s Mima Ito.
Ding had beaten Mima earlier this year in the Qatar Open but last November in Sweden she lost to Mima, as she did more recently in the China Open as well. Similar to their history, Ding took the first game and lost the next, and this pattern continued till Mima got to see why her opponent is now being referred to as the ‘Queen of comebacks’. Changing her style after being 2-3 down, Ding used every shot in her artillery to win 4:3 (11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8). She now faces Sun Yingsha in the all-Chinese final tomorrow.
History repeats as Sun rises highest
Women’s Singles: Semifinals
This has not been the kindest year for Japanese Kasumi Ishikawa while playing China’s Sun Yingsha in ITTF World Tour. Having lost 4-0 to Sun earlier this year in the Qatar Open and Japan Open, she also lost 4-3 in Busan last week while holding one match point. Would today be any different?
No, there was simply nothing that could stop Sun from getting to the final, not even the best efforts of Kasumi when she kept taking huge leads in games, and Sun just kept recovering. In what turned out to be the fourth and final game, the Chinese was actually down 3-8 and raced to level things up 10-10. This was the trend for the entirety of 38 minutes Sun took to reach the finals (11-3, 11-7, 12-10, 12-10).
Day three arrives
The action is beginning to hot up in Geelong with the arrival of day three at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Australian Open – Take a look at the fixture schedule below and make sure to watch along live with itTV:
