All Chinese paddlers have made the singles final 16 after the Day 5 competitions on the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships (WTTC) Finals.
DURBAN, South Africa, May 24 (Xinhua) — Defending champion Wang Manyu of China triumphed in a full-game thriller in opposition to Hanna Haponova of Ukraine, securing a spot within the ladies’s singles spherical of 16 on the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships (WTTC) Finals right here on Wednesday.
Contrary to the huge disparity of their world rankings, the match was a troublesome contest. Haponova, ranked No. 213 globally, demonstrated her formidable taking part in fashion, taking a 2-1 lead and saving a match level to power a deciding recreation. However, Wang, the match’s second seed, discovered her rhythm and emerged victorious with an 11-3 triumph within the ultimate recreation.
Reflecting on her efficiency, Wang admitted that she feared defeat however remained assured. “I would have been completely discontent if I lost at this stage. Despite the pressure, I felt a strong motivation to win,” she acknowledged.
In addition to Wang, 4 different Chinese ladies gamers superior to the spherical of 16. Top seed Sun Yingsha dispatched Elizabeta Samara of Romania in straight video games, whereas Olympic champion Chen Meng overpowered German veteran Shan Xiaona 4-0.
Wang Yidi gained 4-1 in opposition to Portugal’s 44-year-old Fu Yu, and Chen Xingtong secured a 4-2 victory in opposition to Zhu Chengzhu of Hong Kong, China.
Notably, Japan has 4 gamers within the ladies’s spherical of 16 – Mima Ito, Hina Hayata, Miu Hirano, and Miyuu Kihara, together with Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico, Germany’s Han Ying, and Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei.
In the upcoming spherical, Diaz is ready to face Ito. “Mima is one of the best players in the world. I will have to prepare thoroughly,” Diaz commented.
On the boys’s aspect, second seed Wang Chuqin edged out world No. 19 Yukiya Uda 4-1, marking his second consecutive victory over a Japanese participant in Durban.
In the wake of Uda’s exit, Tomokazu Harimoto stays the one Japanese participant in males’s competition, having outplayed Chinese Taipei veteran Chuang Chih-Yuan 4-0.
China’s top-ranked Fan Zhendong bested Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong, China 4-1, whereas Ma Long overcame Kristian Karlsson of Sweden 4-1. They are joined by their compatriots Lin Gaoyuan and Liang Jingkun, who defeated South Korean Lee Sang-su and Paul Drinkhall of England respectively.
Fueled by African help, Egypt’s Omar Assar ousted the 2021 World Championships runner-up Truls Moregard of Sweden 4-2. With the World Championships returning to Africa for the primary time since Cairo, Egypt, in 1939, the African champion acknowledged the importance of this occasion to the continent.
The reigning blended doubles champions, Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, superior to the semifinals after sweeping previous Lin Yun-Ju and Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei 3-0. Their younger teammates Lin Shidong and Kuai Man overcame French pair Simon Gauzy and Prithika Pavade 3-1 to fulfill world No. 2 Harimoto and Hayata within the semifinals.
Additionally, Chen Meng and Wang Yidi reached the ladies’s doubles quarterfinals with a 3-0 victory over Romanian pair Elizabeta Samara and Andreea Dragoman. They are set to face Japan’s Ito and Hayata, the runners-up of the earlier two editions of the occasion, within the subsequent spherical.