China's Lin Shidong serves to Kristian Karlsson of Sweden. Pic: Xinhua
Doha, Qatar: Top ranked men’s and women’s singles players Lin Shidong and Sun Yingsha maintained their fine run at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships, crushing their opponents to advance to the next stage.
At the Lusail Sports Hall yesterday, Chinese star Shidong bounced back following an upset loss in his mixed doubles clash earlier to march into the last 16 overcoming a slow start to defeat world No. 74 Kristian Karlsson of Sweden 4-1 (8-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9).
The 20-year-old proved he is still on course for a maiden World Championships title as he booked his place among the top 8 in the men’s singles with his win which came in 38 minutes.
“He is a very strong player and I played a good match, but it was not enough,” Karlsson said after he was eliminated.
“Normally I play with a lot of power, but Lin was way faster than me. I played the first ball quite hard, but he caught it, and I was too slow to follow up,” the 33-year-old Paris Olympics team silver winner said.
In other highlights in the men’s singles, ITTF World Cup Champion Hugo Calderano made an impressive recovery to defeat Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko 4-2 (9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7), while Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju clinched a commanding 4-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8, 11-10) win over Austria’s Daniel Habesohn.
Hugo Calderano serves to Kirill Gerassimenko.
Germany’s Patrick Franziska also produced a remarkable comeback, overturning a 0-3 deficit to defeat South Korea’s Cho Daeseong 4-3 (7-11, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3). Chinese Taipei’s 13th seed Lin Yun-Ju also advanced, eliminating Austria’s Daniel Habesohn 4-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10) in 37 minutes to continue his flawless run.
The day’s biggest shock came in an all-Japanese clash when 27th seed Shunsuke Togami stunned fourth seed Tomokazu Harimoto 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, top seed Yingsha looked unstoppable.
The defending world champion went into yesterday’s Round of 32 clash with back-to-back 4-0 wins, and extended her perfect run with another straight-game success, stopping Frenchwoman Charlotte Lutz (11-4, 11-6, 11-6, 11-1).
Yingsha is now set for a blockbuster pre-quarter-final showdown with South Korea’s Shin Yubin in their seventh face-off.
Yubin had stopped Italian sensation Gaia Monfardini’s magical run as the No.9 seed prevailed with a 4-1 (11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 14-12, 16-14) scoreline.
In one of the day’s most anticipated singles encounters, Japan’s fifth seed Miwa Harimoto avenged her Asian Championships final defeat by overcoming North Korea’s Kim Kum Yong 4-3 (11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3) in a thrilling seven-game contest.
World No. 2 Wang Manyu also reached the last eight, defeating Germany’s Han Ying 4-1 (12-10, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 13-11). Eighth seed Mima Ito dismissed Poland’s Natalia Bajor 4-2 (11-7, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 2-11, 11-9) in a thriller.
Sun Yingsha hits a return against Charlotte Lutz.
Earlier, in a major surprise, Japan’s 16th seeds Maharu Yoshimura and Satsuki Odo produced an outstanding performance to eliminate top seeds Lin Shidong and Kuai Man 3-1 (8-11, 11-5, 13-11, 12-10) in the Mixed Doubles quarter-finals.
Bronze winners two years back at the World Championships Finals in Durban, Shidong and Kuai were hot favourites to bring home the gold in Doha, but the World No.1 duo had to eventually surrender to the Japanese pair after winning the first game.
“It’s been a long time since I last won a medal at the WTTC - the last time was in 2019, when I teamed up with Kasumi Ishikawa in mixed doubles. There are so many excellent players in Japan, so it’s never easy for me to get a chance. I’ve already turned 30 - I’m 31 this year.
To be paired with Odo and win a medal really exceeded my expectations. So many emotions rushed over me all at once, and I couldn’t help but cry. I’m truly happy. We still have more matches to come, and I hope to give it my all,” Yoshimura said after the memorable win.
In the mixed doubles, the reigning Olympic champions Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha were the only pair from China to reach the quarter-finals.
They defeated Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu and Elizameta Samara, seeded 15th, in straight games to join Hong Kong’s third seeds Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem who defeated Spain’s Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao.
