(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)

Lin Shidong will face Anton Kallberg in the Round of 16 on Thursday at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championship Finals in Doha.  World No. 1 Shidong has lost only 1 game thus far, with a 4-0 win over Liam Pitchford, a d 4-0 win over Lam Siu Hang, and a 4-1 win over Kristian Karlsson.  Only two players have advanced this far unscathed:  Wang Chuqin has logged three straight 4-0 wins, and Shidong’s next opponent Anton Kallberg has also won all 12 of his games thus far.

Another Thursday matchup is a complete surprise, as England’s Tom Jarvis continues to press forward after upsetting Dang Qiu.  Jarvis will face World No. 5 Liang Jingkun, one of favorites to reach the Finals of this event.  Felix Lebrun fought past Oh Junsung for a 4-2 win.  He will next face An Jaehyun in the Round of 16.  Hugo Calderano continues his strong play, with a win over Kirill Gerassimenko in the Round of 32.  Calderano will face the athletic Quadri Aruna – as Aruna eliminated Benedikt Duda on Tuesday.

Harimoto fell to teammate Shunsuke Togami on Wednesday.  Togami now faces Darko Jorgic in the Round of 16.  Jang Woojin and Truls Moregard each moved forward as expected – they will face off on Thursday.  The same is true for Patrick Franziska and Lin Yun-Ju – each the top seed in their section and both now set to face each other in the Round of 16.

Simon Gauzy is the other big surprise to reach the Round of 16.  His path thus far has been among the toughest, topping Mahmoud Helmy in the first match before upsetting Anders Lind 4-3, and then pulling off an additional upset with a 4-2 win over Lin Gaoyuan.    Gauzy is set to face Wang Chuqin in the Round of 16.  Win or lose, Gauzy has had a great tournament – but a win over World No. 2 Chuqin would be a big step forward for the Frenchman.

Lots of action on tap all week.  Tune in for more updates.

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