(by Steve Hopkins)
As the Singapore Smash progresses, the biggest stories have revolved around underdogs advancing further than expected (and the big upsets that have occurred as a result). Timo Boll, Patrick Franziska, and Sharath Kamal Achanta each reached the Quarterfinals. Cho Daesseong, Omar Assar, Kristian Karlsson, and Ovidiu Ionescu all reached the Round of 16. The big question for Friday’s matches was whether this would continue to be a tournament of upsets, or if things would revert back to normalcy with top seeds pressing through to the Semifinals.
Another big event lead to another big performance by one of table tennis’ all-time greats. Timo Boll (No. 43 currently) maneuvered past Anton Kallberg (No. 16), and Lin Shidong (No. 18) on his way to the Quarterfinals. Boll’s run likely pivoted today in the first game with Liang Jingkun (No. 5) as the two swapped points all the way to a 19-17 Jingkun win – giving Jinkun an early advantage in what would turn out to be the tightest of matches. The next game started with an early lead for Jingkun that extended to an easy 11-6 win for the 2-0 match lead. Boll then threw his full efforts into the next two games and after 11-7 and 11-5 wins, the score was tied 2-2. At that point, it looked like Boll had emptied the tanks just to pull even as he fell behind by four points early in Game 5. But as the fans have seen many times in the past, Boll fought back, eventually getting to within 2 (at 8-10) and then tying the score. The two traded points until Jingkun won 14-12, and again – you’d assume that would have stopped this run…. but it did not. Boll stayed close in the sixth game, and then pulled ahead at the end to tie the game score 3-3. It was Liang’s turn early in the seventh game – up 5-1 and then 6-1. Unfortunately for Boll, that last push (by the stronger and younger Jingkun) went unanswered. Jingkun topped Boll 11-5 for the 4-2 match win. He now proceeds to the Semifinals to face Lin Yun-Ju on Saturday. For Boll, that was an excellent effort – an effort that might have been medal-worthy in an Olympic-style event with only two players from each country (where this might have been a Semifinal match instead of a Quarterfinal match.
Lin Yun-Ju also removed an underdog from the draw today. Patrick Franziska topped Ma Long in the Round of 32, logging one of the biggest upsets of the tournament. He then defeated Dimitrij Ovtcharov for a second consecutive upset win. However, Lin Yun-Ju was too strong today – winning the first three games easily before trading the final two games and cruising to a 4-1 victory.
In the bottom half of the draw the third underdog fell as Sharath Kamal Achanta fell to Felix Lebrun 4-1. Achanta took out Darko Jorgic in the early rounds on his way to the Quarters, but the Felix controlled the pace of the match thoughout. Lebrun will face Wang Chuqin, the highest remaining seed. Chuqin maneuvered through the first three rounds with 3-0 wins – the only player to blank his opponents all the way through to the Quarters. Chuqin faced Dang Qiu in the final match of the day. Qiu won the opening game – giving Chuqin his first game loss of the tournament. However, it didn’t take Chuqin long to get rolling – he won the second game 11-1, and won the first 6 points of the third game. Dang Qiu fought back, however – eventually reaching 10-10 and then 11-11 before falling just short. Chuqin wins 13-11 and then managed to keep the upper hand through the rest of the match (-8, 1, 11, 7, 11), securing a 4-1 win and moving forward to face Felix Lebrun on Saturday.
Video Below: Timo Boll flashes of brilliance as he upsets Lin Shidong on his way to the Quarters.
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