(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTFWorld)
Another ultra-competitive field is in Xinxiang, China this week at the WTT Champions event. However, two of the biggest names were out on just the second day. Korea’s Jim Jonghoon dropped the first game to Tomokazu Harimoto, but then ran off three in a row to defeat World No. 3. The only other Day 2 match-up was Ma Long and Lin Yun-Ju – and it was Lin that started fast with wins in the first two games and then holding on for the 3-1 win.
Most of the other matchups are set for Wednesday. Fan Zhendong will face Lee Sang Su, Lin Shidong will face Dang Qiu, and Alexis Lebrun will play Truls Moregard. The other match-ups are Hugo Calderano versus Ruwen Filus, Liang Jingkun versus Mattias Falck, and Darko Jorgic versus Wang Chuqin.
In Women’s Singles, Wang Manyu, Hina Hayata, and Chen Meng have all advanced to the Quarterfinals already. The other Round of 16 matchups are Sun v. Yang, Szocs v. Ito, Han v. Shin, Cheng v. Wang (Yidi), and Chen v. Shan.
Lots of quality table tennis on tap all week long – we’ll have more updates soon.
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