Cho Daeseong and Jang Woojin are Men’s Doubles champions!!!
Men’s Doubles: Final
And the Korean qualifiers have done it! Congratulations to Cho Daeseong and Jang Woojin on securing the men’s doubles title in Magdeburg (10-12, 15-13, 12-14, 14-12, 11-6).
Down to the wire
Men’s Doubles: Final
Saving a combined total of five game points in game three and then two in game four, but Lin and Ma can’t prevent the Koreans from forcing a decider. Four games down and we’re still none the wiser as to who will lift the trophy!
Korean duo levels tie with cool display
Men’s Doubles: Final
With the opening game of the men’s doubles final going to China’s Lin Gaoyuan and Ma Long by the narrowest of margin (12-10), Korea Republic’s Cho Daeseong and Jang Woojin needed a quick response and they found one, finishing game two with a flourish (15-13) to pull level once again.
Chen Meng and Wang Manyu are women’s doubles champions!!!
Women’s Doubles: Final
A close start but in the end it’s a relatively convincing win for the Chinese combination of Chen Meng and Wang Manyu, who needed four games to see off Miu Hirano and Kasumi Ishikawa (11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8). Congratulations to the 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open women’s doubles champions!
“The match was not that easy and we also met a lot of difficulties. I do think we are working better and better together as a team. Manyu had a great performance today, which helped me a lot to get the victory.” Chen Meng
Nothing between Chinese and Japanese pairs
Women’s Doubles: Final
It’s been a pretty balanced start to the women’s doubles final here in Magdeburg with the scores sitting level at 1-1 after the opening two games. Seeded first, Chen Meng and Wang Manyu are quick out of the gate and deservedly move in front but Miu Hirano and Kasumi Ishikawa begin to find their footing. This could be a close one!
Gold medals up for grabs
The two remaining fixtures of the day carry significant importance with silverware on the line as the Women’s and Men’s Doubles events draw to a close.
Point of the day!
Drama free outing for top seed Xu Xin
Men’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
And that is that! Xu has come through his meeting with Zhao without dropping a single game (11-8, 11-3, 12-10, 11-8) and will now go on to face Lin Gaoyuan for a spot in the gold medal match.
“I will give my best in every event I participate in this year. In the last two years of the German Open, I have only reached second place. I hope this time I can achieve a surprise here.” Xu Xin
Zhao Zihao with work to do
Men’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
Facing Xu Xin is always a difficult task, trailing the “Cloud Walker” by two games is a mountain to climb. Unfortunately for Zhao Zihao he finds himself in that exact position in the race for the remaining quarter-final spot with top seed Xu looking very cool so far (11-8, 11-3).
Nerves of steel see Lin hold on
Men’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
Mizutani continues to ask the question of his higher-seeded opponent with another successful outing in game six forcing the match to a final seventh game. However, refusing to let his head drop Lin manages to get over the finish line with a much stronger performance in the decider (11-6, 11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6).
“It was a tough match, the opponent was down 0-3 and came back to make 3-3. I felt that I was dreaming! I was nervous, but then the most important thing in my head was that I cannot lose this match and I am glad I made it in the end.” Lin Gaoyuan
Comeback on the cards?
Men’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
Trailing 0-3, Mizutani saves two match points before going on to win game four (13-11). The Japanese player carries forward his positive momentum into game five and doesn’t look back, clawing the overall deficit back to one with a narrow win (11-9). Lin needs to rediscover his composure here or Mizutani may just start to believe in his comeback chances!
“Dark Knight” on the right track
Men’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
Keen to get through this one quickly, Lin Gaoyuan, aka the “Dark Knight”, has made a lighting start to his quarter-final meeting with Jun Mizutani, claiming games one and two decisively (11-6, 11-7).
Not the start Mizutani was hoping for but don’t expect him to lose heart – it’s still early days in this one.
What’s coming next?
Following the conclusion of the two women’s singles quarter-finals it’s now time to focus on the men’s singles event and two highly anticipated affairs. First up we’ll see Japanese stalwart Jun Mizutani take on no.4 seed Lin Gaoyuan before top seed Xu Xin and qualifier Zhao Zihao do battle.
Shocks or not?
Departure for World champion
Women’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
What an incredible performance from Zhu, who storms past World champion Liu in straight games (11-3, 11-9, 11-3, 11-2) to book a meeting with top seed Chen Meng in the semi-finals.
“I didn’t expect the result, I was giving my best to get the victory. The atmosphere here is very good, which makes me feel pretty relaxed.” Zhu Yuling
Flying start
Women’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
Zhu Yuling is absolutely flying out there on court, playing very much on the front foot and catching her opponent out with her power. Under 15 minutes played and already it’s a 2-0 lead for fifth seed Zhu (11-3, 11-9) – can Liu Shiwen find her way back from this?
2019 champion falls to Wang Manyu!
Women’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
A tight match with very little between the two, Sun and Wang can’t be separated after six games so a decider is required. Both players maintain their aggressive approach, fighting for every point but only one could emerge victorious and that turned out to be Wang Manyu who won the match on back-to-back edges (11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 3-11, 11-8).
“I think I am very lucky with the last two balls in the decider. Having the strong will to win helped me get the victory.” Wang Manyu
So it’s not to be a successful title defence for Sun Yingsha, as for Wang Manyu she goes on to face Ding Ning in the last four.
Strong response
Women’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
Sun has made a fantastic response to going a game down, winning back-to-back games to move 2-1 ahead (6-11, 11-8, 11-9). Game three in particular will give the defending champion a confidence boost, recovering from 5-9 to steal the game.
Wang Manyu strikes first
Women’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
Fast-paced action right from the start of play in the quarter-final battle between defending champion Sun Yingsha and sixth seed Wang Manyu – the latter player enjoys the brighter start (11-6), but can she build upon her early momentum?
Welcome back
We’re back following the break in play and now the attention shifts to two exciting women’s singles quarter-final encounters with Wang Manyu and Sun Yingsha meeting face-to-face in the first contest. Then it’s time for Zhu Yuling vs Liu Shiwen!
Xu/Liu win gold!
Mixed Doubles: Final
It turns out the Japanese pairing’s comeback was to be in vain. Xu Xin with Liu Shiwen have won the first gold medal on offer here in Germany, as they beat Jun Mizutani with Mima Ito 3-1 (12-10, 13-11, 7-11, 11-7).
In a supreme display of their tandem, Xu and Liu kept up their barrage of shots on their opponents, not giving them any room to work with at all.
Chinese pair fully in control
Mixed Doubles: Final
The lead had doubled for Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, as they won the second game 13-11 in 10 minutes against Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito.
The top Japanese mixed doubles duo have hit back with one game, winning 11-7. Can they level it up?
Xu/Liu lead in the final
Mixed Doubles: Final
The first battle for gold is on right now as China’s Xu Xin with Liu Shiwen are taking on Japan’s Jun Mizutani with Mima Ito.
In this derby of sorts between the Asian nations veteran mixed doubles pairs, Xu and Liu have drawn first blood winning the first game 12-10, despite being down 9-10. How will Mizutani and Ito respond?
Dima wins!
Men’s Singles: Quarter-finals
Oh what a match! Dimitrij Ovtcharov has just eliminated the defending German Open champion, Fan Zhendong 4-3 (9-11, 11-4, 8-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-5, 12-10) in an epic 1 hour 15 minute thriller.
The German has been at his absolute best today, saving match points in the fifth game against the world no.1 – who then himself saved three match points in the decider – but could not handle the superb backhand-supported showing of Ovtcharov. This is a massive win for the former world no.1, considering Fan had not lost a single match in the past four tournaments. Awaiting the home favorite in the semi-finals, is Ma Long.
Decider calling!
Men’s Singles: Quarter-finals
Dimitrij Ovtcharov has turned the tables here on Fan Zhendong, who certainly for a moment was thinking this would be a routine win after he led 3-1 (11-9, 4-11, 11-8, 12-10).
But no, the German has won two games back to back (12-10, 11-5) to send this match to a decider where Ovtcharov will be the one with momentum on his side. What does the world no.1 have up his sleeve now?
Fan and Ovtcharov stick to basics
Men’s Singles: Quarter-finals
World no.1 Fan Zhendong and the only remaining German hope in the men’s singles, Dimitrij Ovtcharov are engaged in a pendulum match, with both players winning one game after the other.
Sticking to their strengths, it seems Fan is currently leading by sheer force of his forehands, as Ovtcharov is carefully awaiting his turn on the counter. The Chinese leads 2-1 (11-9, 4-11, 11-8).
Ma Long wins in four
Men’s Singles: Quarter-finals
China’s Ma Long progressed in straight forward fashion, as he saw off Korea Republic’s Cho Seungmin, winning 4-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4).
The Dragon was in purring form against the Korean, taking 19 points on Cho’s service and wrapping up the semi-final spot in 30 minutes.
Chen coasts to semis
Women’s Singles: Quarter-finals
It seems like there wasn’t any way back for Wang Yidi, as Chen Meng won 4-1 (6-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-5, 11-6) in an exuberant performance here at the GETEC-Arena.
In just about 40 minutes, there was a barrage of powerful shots from the world no.1 – who won 26 points on her opponent’s serve – and Wang simply had no answer.
Chen and Wang in Chinese domestic
Women’s Singles: Quarter-finals
World no.1 Chen Meng is up against her Chinese compatriot, Wang Yidi for a place in the semi-finals of the German Open.
Chen has the lead currently 2-1 (6-11, 11-8, 11-1) despite having initially lost the first game to Wang. Is there any way back for the world no.13?
Ding finds the Ito solution
Women’s Singles: Quarter-finals
China’s Ding Ning found the solution to seeing off the hard battle that her Japanese opponent, Mima Ito was giving her. In five games, spanning just over 41 minutes, Ding secured a 4-1 (11-7, 11-13, 14-12, 11-8, 11-5) win with some measure of class.
“To sum up my performance today, I think it can be better. We have a period not against each other so both of us have some technical need to adapt. Nowadays the way we play the game, we cannot just use one advantage to win, we must prepare better. Today I won because I seized the chance of key points in the third and the fourth games. Wining against Ito, the best women’s player in Japan might help me more understand the competition of the Olympic Games”－Ding Ning
After winning the third game, Ding addressed Ito forehands with patience and took her shots long when she needed to. This meant longer rallies that Ito could not win with pace, and thus the experience of Ding led her to her first semi-finals of this year’s World Tour.
Ito and Ding exchange opening games
Women’s Singles: Quarter-finals
Welcome to the penultimate day of the first World Tour Platinum event of the decade, with Japan’s Mima Ito battling against China’s Ding Ning.
The ‘Queen of Hearts’ and Ito have both started with a strong attack-minded strategy, and have won every alternate game. The score reads 2-1 (11-7, 11-13, 14-12) to Ding for now, but Ito is still very much in this.
