(by Steve Hopkins)
Upsets have become the norm as even more surprise wins occur in the Round of 16 at the Singapore Smash. Six of the World’s Top 10 players have already fallen. Who are the Final 8? Timo Boll will face Liang Jingkun, Patrick Franziska will face Lin Yun-Ju, Felix Lebrun will face Sharath Kamal Achanta, and Dang Qiu will face Wang Chuqin. Wang Chuqin has continued his dominant run, topping Truls Moregard 3-0 (his third 3-0 win thus far).
Dang Qiu overcame Cho Daeseong 3-2. The second Semifinal match-up will be between Sharath Kamal Achanta who defeated Omar Assar 3-0 and Felix Lebrun who defeated Kristian Karlsson by the same 3-0 score. Lin Yun-Ju earned his Semifinal spot with a 3-0 win over Ovidiu Ionescu. He will face Patrick Franziska who upset teammate and doubles partner Dimitrij Ovtcharov 3-2. Liang Jingkun fell behind 0-2 in his match against Tomokazu Harimoto before winning three in a row. The biggest surprise of the draw has come out of the final slot. Timo Boll took out Lin Shidong 3-1. That was the second upset in a row for Boll – and he will get another upset opportunity on Friday when he faces Jingkun.
The Women’s side has turned out to be a little more predictable, as seven of the eight Quarterfinal slots have been filled by the expected seeds. Sun Yingsha will face Chen Xingtong, Wang Yidi will face Qian Tianyi, Chen Meng will face Shin Yubin, and Wang Manyu will face Mima Ito – the only player outside of the top 8 seeds to reach this tier.
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