Site Products
Hong Kong Open Review

Hong Kong Open Review

(by Steve Hopkins/Photo by ITTF)

The Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour, Hang Seng Hong Kong Open concluded on Sunday.  The Men’s Singles event ran very much as expected with the top two seeds reaching the Final, and the top seed winning.  In the top half of the draw, all four Chinese players who made the draw won their opening match.  In fact, those four (Gaoyuan, Te, Chuqin, and Jingkun) were undefeated against others – only losing to each other.  It was Lin Gaoyuan, the tournament’s top seed, who advanced.  Mattias Falck was the only non-Chinese player to advance to the Quarterfinals (where he lost 4-0 to Liang Jingkun).

Harimoto and Boll were the top seeds in the bottom half of the draw.  Harimoto lost the first two games of his opening match against Jon Persson, but recovered to win the match 4-2.  He then dominated from that point forward beating  Quadri 4-0, Mizutani 4-1, and Zhou 4-1.  Boll never really gained momentum in the tournament.  He needed seven games to beat Sharath Kamal Achanta, then needed seven games to overcome Maharu Yoshimura before losing 4-3 to China’s Zhou Yu.

The all-Butterfly final featured Butterfly sponsored players Tomokazu Harimoto and Lin Gaoyuan.  Early in the match, Harimoto was up 2-1, but Lin Gaoyuan ran off three games in a row to close out the match and claim the title.  Lin Gaoyuan over Tomokazu Harimoto 4-2 (3, -7, -6, 6, 9, 7).

The top seed in the Women’s Singles event fell in the Round of 16 (China’s Wang Yidi upset Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa 4-1).  Wang Yidi entered the event with a World Ranking of No. 46 and had to win two qualifiers just to make it to the main draw.  Once there, however, she made the most of her time with wins over each of the top three seeds on her way to claiming the title.  In fact, Yidi seemed to get better as she moved forward, losing two games in the Quarterfinals, but then winning the semifinals and finals with a perfect 4-0 in each.  The bottom half of the draw was dominated by the two top seeds in that half, Miu Hirano and Mima Ito.  Those two met in the Semifinals with Mima Ito winning 4-2.  However, the story of the day was Wang Yidi, and she continued her domination in the Final nearly doubling the score in each of the four games – winning at 3, 7, 5, and 6.

Check in with ButterflyOnline for updates during major tour events.

Latest News

Szocs Leads Mumba TT to India League Final

June 14, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo UTT) Bernadette Szocs scored 4 of her team’s 8 points as U Mumba TT… Read More

Bowmar Sports Tournament Highlights – Chirag Pradhan 2025 USATT Southwest Regional

June 14, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Bowmar Sports Tournament Highlights, Chirag Pradhan is in action at the USATT Southwest… Read More

Guess Who’s Back ??

June 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) Having made headlines a few weeks ago with his tour through Germany which included an… Read More

Jha, Akula, Lead the Patriots into India’s League Final

June 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo UTT) India’s Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) league is in its sixth season – with… Read More

How Often Should I Brush?

June 13, 2025
Backhand topspin against backspin that comes half long to Backhand (2nd ball bounce is slightly behind the table)… Read More

Message From Our President

June 13, 2025
Under the slogan “Open the World” We are committed to delivering high-performance, high-quality table tennis equipment to 198… Read More

Product Validation: Dignics 09C

June 13, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Product Validation, Brian Pace breaks down the benefits of the Dignics O9C.… Read More

The O’Neill Op-Ed + A Smarter Spin on Club Growth

June 12, 2025
(by: Major League Table Tennis) Thursday, June 12 O’Neil Op-Ed | SPINDEX Challenge Nights | Official MLTT Jersey  INTRODUCING: The O’Neil Op-Ed 📝 … Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.