(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
Kanak Jha served beautifully, and his consistent rallies and shot-making made him the better player early in the match as Jha surprised Dang Qiu with three straight wins. Dang Qiu, perhaps with an emotional let-down after defeating World No. 1 Lin Shidong as the underdog a day ago found himself heavily favored in this Quarterfinal match against the lower-ranked American.
With Jha up 3-0, Dang Qiu came out on fire in the fourth game building up a 7-4 lead. At that point, an edge was argued but went to Jha. The pause may have affected Dang Qiu as the 7-4 lead became 8-6 and then 9-9. A real opportunity for Jha to close out the match with a come-back win, but it was not to be. Qiu held on to win both points to take his first game of the match. Jha now leads 3-1.
In the fifth game, Qiu was again the stronger player early – confident play, controlling the pace, hitting the stronger shots. Qiu leads 9-5 and again sees Jha fighting back to 9-7 then 10-8 and then 10-10 with Jha serving. Jha win a 6 shot rally with a big forehand to give him his first match point, and then a backhand sails long giving Kanak Jha the win 12-10. Jha wins 4-1. Its his first win over Dang Qiu, and the first time an American has reach the Semifinals of a WTT Champions Series event.
Jha’s match was one of the first of Sunday Quarterfinal match-ups. Jha now holds the Semifinal slot originally in line for Lin Shidong. He will face the winner of Tomokazu Harimoto and Xiang Peng. The other matches yet to be played are Truls Moregard versus An Jaehyun and Shunsuke Togami versus Wang Chuqin.
Lots of matches yet to be played – but at this moment, its Kanak Jha as the first to qualify for the Semifinals.
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