(by Steve Hopkins)
Patrick Franziska, the tournament’s fifth seed, was the highest seed to make the Quarterfinals at the WTT Champions Series event in Incheon Korea this week. Franziska’s slight upset over Truls Moregard, was just one of a series of Saturday upsets in Incheon.
The hero of the first day was Lee Sang Su, a savvy Korean veteran who knocked out World No. 6 Felix Lebrun. Lee then defeated Anders Lind 3-1 on Friday, and on Saturday logged an impressive 4-2 win over World No. 10 Lin Gaoyuan. Thus far, Lee Sang Su’s performance had only been rivaled by Japan’s Sora Matsushima who had consecutive 3-0 wins over Dang Qiu and Darko Jorgic. However, Matsushima’s run was ended today by Lin Yun-Ju 4-1. Lin Yun-Ju, who earlier in the tournament also defeated top seed Harimoto, will now face Lee Sang Su on Sunday in the Semifinals.
In the lower half of the draw, Patrick Franziska needed all seven games to eliminate Truls Moregard. The two have almost identical rankings, but it was a minor upset. Franziska won the first game 12-10. Moregard evened the score with an 11-8 win of his own. Franziska then had a great run with two easy wins on his wan to a 3-1 lead before the momentum shifted. Moregard won the fifth game with another tight 12-10 win and then cruised through an 11-4 laugher before the two again fought to a 10-10 tie in the final game. Franziska benefitted from a cheap net at 9-9, and there was some sloppy play towards the end – but the German outlasted the Swede for a 13-11 win.
Franziska will face Xiang Peng, a 22 year old Chinese player who beat Hugo Calderano on Saturday. Calderano won the first game, and led most of the second, but Peng gained the advantage and never let up winning four straight.
There was a surprise in Women’s Singles as well. While top seeds Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong have both reached the Semifinals as expected, and fourth seeded Miwa Harimoto blanked the dangerous Kuai Man 4-0 to reach the Semis to face Xingtong. The surprise is Zhu Yuling of Macao who cut down Hina Hayata and Satsuki Odo on her way to the Semfinals. Zhu will face Wang Yidi on Sunday.
The Semifinals and Finals are set to be played on Sunday.
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