(by Simon Daish)
Dramatic day for Dimitrij Ovtcharov while Japanese duo set record
Friday 15th December was very much a day to remember for Dimitrij Ovtcharov after the German player guaranteed his place at the top of the men’s world rankings list with an opening round win at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Astana, Kazakhstan while over in the Men’s Doubles draw there was a new record set.

Dimitrij Ovtcharov headed into the day’s action knowing that a win against Koki Niwa would be enough to take the World no.1 spot as of Monday 1st January 2018. After seven gruelling games the top seed eventually got the job done (10-12, 11-6, 12-14, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5) and was understandably over the moon with his achievement.

“(World no.1) sounds unreal. I have been dreaming about that since I started playing, but I mean we have millions of players around the world working hard and they can soon read my name on the top of the list. That makes me proud and I’m very thankful to everyone who have supported me throughout my entire career.” Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

More German success came courtesy of Timo Boll, who came through his quarter-finals tie against Wong Chun Ting with a six games win to his name (4-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-3).

Fan Zhendong awaits Timo Boll in the last four after the Chinese competitor prevailed over Xu Xin (11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10) to progress beyond the quarter-finals.

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