Franziska happy to get his revenge
Ups and Downs
Battle of generations favours teenage ace
Men’s Singles: Round Two (Round of 16)
27 years between them, Vladimir Samsonov, 43, and Tomokazu Harimoto, 16, were involved in a battle of generations in the concluding session of play and this time out it was youth that prevailed with the teenage superstar from Japan showing great maturity in a five-game clash (11-2, 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6).
The only previous head-to-head meeting between Xu Xin and Lee Sangsu came two years ago at the 2017 German Open with the latter player winning on that occasion. But, this time around it was Xu who proved the stronger of the two (11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9).
“It took me too long to get into the game. Almost everything was already decided. It’s hard to say exactly what I did better in the fourth game. I just kept on playing and tried to win.” Vladimir Samsonov
“A roller coaster match”
Timo Boll has reacted to his dramatic showdown with Jun Mizutani:
“From the very beginning this was a game with many ups and downs, a roller coaster match. I sometimes acted too cautiously and Jun took a high risk. It’s not often that I come back in the seventh game after being so far behind. I just played the ball back on the table when I was 3-9 behind, served well and regained my balance.” Timo Boll
Boll wins seven-game epic
Men’s Singles: Round Two (Round of 16)
What a match! The host nation’s Timo Boll has just won a breathtaking contest against long-time Japanese rival Jun Mizutani (8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4, 7-11, 9-11, 12-10).
Down by a two-game margin just beyond the halfway point, Mizutani responded beautifully with back-to-back game successes to take the match into a deciding seventh game. However, it was a comeback from Boll that proved most noteworthy with the German legend recovering from 3-9 down to the win decider 12-10 and send the home crowd into rapturous applause.
Shock or not?
Fantastic Franziska!
Men’s Singles: Round Two (Round of 16)
Patrick Franziska has developed somewhat of a reputation as a major threat to the top Chinese players in world table tennis and the German has produced yet another special performance against one of the country’s biggest stars, inflicting a devastating 4-1 defeat upon third seed Lin Gaoyuan (11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9).
On table 2 Liang Jingkun held the upper hand in the all-China fixture against Yu Ziyang (11-5, 12-10, 4-11, 11-5, 11-4).
Yan An on his comeback display
What inspired Yan An to his sensation comeback victory over Hugo Calderano? The Chinese player reveals all:
“I didn’t play well in the first game. I haven’t been participating in World Tour events for a long time and I played too carefully. I was afraid to use all my skills because I was nervous and I played conservatively. But the moment I was 1-3 behind, I suddenly freed my mind and played well. I changed the tactics from conservative to offensive and it turned out it was not that hard to play against him, like I thought before. I am really happy to win this match. My goal is continue until I meet my own teammate this time, and I think I have almost got there.” Yan An
Up 3-1 but Hugo Calderano suffers elimination
Men’s Singles: Round Two (Round of 16)
Hugo Calderano won’t be lifting the men’s singles trophy in Bremen – the fifth seeded Brazilian player held what looked to be a commanding 3-1 lead in his second round battle with Yan An but the Chinese qualifier kept believing, rescuing a difficult situation to defeat Calderano across seven games (8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-8).
Ninth seed Koki Niwa has also missed out on a place in the quarter-finals with the in-form Jeoung Youngsik moving through in his stead (11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8).
Feng Tianwei interview
One of the upsets of the tournament, listen to what Feng Tianwei had to say following her shock 4-0 win against World no.1 Chen Meng:
Hong Kong stars fall short
Mixed Doubles: Semi-Finals
Top seeds in the mixed doubles draw but Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem have fallen short in their quest for gold in Bremen after the pair from Hong Kong failed to take full advantage of an early lead in their semi-final encounter with China’s Wang Chuqin and Wang Manyu (11-13, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7).
Xu Xin and Sun Yingsha have reached the final in their first tournament as a pair, producing another impressive display to see off Chinese Taipei second seeds Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching by a convincing 3-0 score-line (13-11, 11-6, 11-3).
Break in play
A spectacular day of action so far and there’s bound to be plenty more drama as the day progresses. There’s a break in play for now though – be sure to check back at 6.00pm local time when the mixed doubles semi-finals take centre stage.
Second seeds edge through
Women’s Doubles: Semi-Finals
The day has gone from bad to worse for Chen Meng after her surprise exit from the women’s singles draw was compounded with another defeat, this time in the women’s doubles event. Chen, in partnership with Gu Yuting, were edged by Japanese second seeds Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki in a tight semi-final affair (11-5, 11-9, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6).
“We have led as we had set out to. In the third game the others suddenly came back and we choked. Only in the decisive game did we manage to clear our heads and say to ourselves: ‘We’ll start all over again.” Like in the first game. That led to victory. It’s our first participation in the final of a Platinum tournament. The final alone is a great success for us.” Miyuu Kihara
In the other semi-final it was one-way traffic as the no.4 seed from Korea Republic, Jeon Jihee and Yang Haeun condemned Chinese Taipei qualifiers Chen Szu-Yu and Cheng Hsien-Tzu to a straight games defeat (11-5, 11-7, 11-9).
Who will you be supporting?
We have a “Clash of the Titans” to look forward at 8.20pm local time as Jun Mizutani and Timo Boll meet in Round of 16 action.
German qualifiers reach final
Men’s Doubles: Semi-Finals
The local spectators in Bremen celebrate after seeing German qualifiers Benedikt Duda and Qiu Dang come through a difficult semi-final contest, holding off a late recovery from Chen Chien-An and Chuang Chih-Yuan to beat the eighth seeded Chinese Taipei pair 3-2 (11-3, 13-11, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6).
“We still followed the same tactic when we were 2-0 ahead but our opponents had adjusted themselves to it. Therefore, at 2-2 we adapted it a little, played much more aggressively. As we are in the final, we also want to get the title!” Benedikt Duda
We also lost the second seeded partnership in the last four with Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan losing out to fellow Chinese compatriots Liang Jingkun and Xu Xin (9-11, 12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9).
Mima pushed, but not out
Women’s Singles: Round Two (Round of 16)
Mima Ito was in for a bit of a scare as she faced off against China’s Qian Tianyi who was clinical in her approach versus the Japanese star. While the match went to six games, it was Ito who emerged victorious.
Winning the first two games, Ito established control before Qian pushed back to level the playing field. In the end, the strong mental grit of Ito allowed her to pull through the pressure of the Chinese’s attack and win the match 4-2 (11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7).
“I wasn’t completely happy with how I was playing. I should have played even more aggressively. Nevertheless, I shouldn’t put too much pressure on myself. When I choke, I play bad table tennis. There is still a lot to do for me on the way to the Olympic Games. I still have a lot to improve. Especially my mistakes have to be reduced. There will be even harder opponents in the tournament. I need to go the extra mile.” Mima Ito
Upset of the tournament so far?
The World #1 is out!
Women’s Singles: Round Two (Round of 16)
Feng Tainwei has just caused a minor earthquake at the German Open as she defeated the world #1 Chen Meng – in straight games (11-6, 11-2, 11-4, 11-8) !!! In a little over half an hour, the veteran Singaporean exhibited a classy performance which truly vowed spectators.
“That really was a huge surprise for me. I was pleased with my performance during every single game. Also, in the fourth game I was always in the lead but my coach took a time-out. He wanted to give me even more security. I needed to stay cool. In the semi-final, just like today, I want to stay calm and not put pressure on myself. We’ll figure out a tactic and, if we can, just stay cool.” Feng Tianwei
In good news for China, Sun Yingsha moved on to the quarter-finals here in Bremen with commanding performance against Russian Olga Vorobeva. Sun was fast off the whistle so to speak, not giving Vorobeva an inch to play into – meaning the match was resolved in a matter of 23 minutes (11-7, 11-6, 11-2, 11-4).
Enjoying the German Open? Then you will love this!
Double European exit for men
Men’s Doubles: Quarter-finals
Alvaro Robles and Ovidiu Ionsecu could not make the best of their good start as they were defeated in the quarter-finals by China’s Liang Jingkun and Xu Xin (10-12, 11-9, 11-3, 11-4).
The Spanish-Romanian duo shocked Xu and Liang with a strong show of powerful forehands in the first game, but were unable to sustain the pressure. Over at table 1, Germans Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska suffered a similar fate at the hands of Chinese athletes as Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan took down the home favorites in 32 minutes and four games (11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5).
“We should have won one of the first two games. The Chinese didn’t want to see an edge ball at 8-8 in the first game. This took some of the flow away from us. Fan/Lin are a hard to play double, especially in the short-short-game they are very strong.” Timo Boll
Upset central in Bremen as Sun-Wang exit
Women’s Doubles: Quarter-finals
The ÖVB-Arena in Bremen saw a major upset in the women’s doubles as China’s Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu were eliminated by Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu and Cheng Hsein-Tzu 3-2 (11-9, 12-10, 3-11, 6-11, 11-7).
“We haven’t played against them before and for a right-handed combination in doubles, they’re pretty good. We ourselves made a lot of mistakes. I had had a match in mixed doubles before, but it had no effect on this result.” Sun Yingsha
Despite taking a two game lead, Chen and Cheng were pegged back superbly by Sun and Wang, making sure there were no easy points. The match however remained in favour of the Chinese Taipei side, who managed to dig deep and win the decider and the tie in 37 minutes.
Intense quarter-final ends with Xu-Sun victory
Mixed Doubles: Quarter-finals
Two of the highest rated mixed doubles’ pairs were at it again, as Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito locked horns with Xu Xin and Sun Yingsha, in a power-packed quarter-final.
The Chinese duo started with a win but were immediately handed a loss in the second game by the Japanese pair. From here, developing a firm grip on the match turned out to be difficult, but not impossible. Xu and Sun took the third game and using that momentum, clinched the fourth as well as a place in the semi-finals (11-5, 11-13, 11-7, 11-9).
Straight wins to start the day
Mixed Doubles: Quarter-finals
China’s Wang Chuqin and Wang Manyu had a splendid victory to start the day here in Bremen, as they coasted to win 3-0 against Slovakian pairing Lubomir Pistej and Barbora Balazova (11-9, 11-9, 12-10).
Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju and Chen I-Ching followed suit as they ousted Korea Republic’s fan favorite duo of Jeon Jihee and Lee Sangsu in straight games (11-5, 11-4, 11-9).
“Actually we haven’t used any special tactics. We just played as usual. We think it was a great match for us.” Lin Yun-Ju
