(by Steve Hopkins) If there was any question, Dimitrij Ovtcharov has let the world know that he is fully recovered from injury.  He pulled away in each of the first three games against Dang Qiu winning 11-6, and 11-8, largely using careful play and then dominating with big backhands.  But towards the end of the […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Lin Yun-Ju entered the tournament in Zagreb as the fourth seed.  His path became easier when Truls Moregard fell to Patrick Franziska – Lin Yun-Ju was able to beat the No. 12 ranked Fraziska (instead of the No. 5 ranked Moregard).  The biggest story of the tournamnent was Chinese World Junior’s Champ […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Saturday morning, Dimitrij Ovtcharov topped Simon Gauzy 3-1 in the Quarterfinals before defeating Anton Kallberg 4-2 in the Semifinals.  As the second seed, Dima’s run was not unexpected.  The unexpected story of the event is the rise of the other Finalist, Dan Qiu also capped off an impressive run winning twice on […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The Top Seed in Zagreb, Truls Moregard, fell Saturday to Patrick Franziska.  Franziska then fell to Lin Yun-Ju in the Semifinals.  Yun-Ju had defeated Liang Guodong, a Chinese qualifier, in their Quarterfinal match.  The other Chinese qualifier to make the Quarters is Xiang Peng.  Peng upset Tomokazu Harimoto in the Round of […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The Top Seed in Zagreb, Truls Moregard, has cruised to the Quarterfinals – he will face Patrick Franziska on Saturday morning.  Lin Yun-Ju has also advanced easily – and he is set to face up and coming Chinese player Liang Guodong.  Xiang Peng, another Chinese qualifier, upset Tomokazu Harimoto on Friday.  Peng […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Dimitrij Ovtcharov had a tough opening match, scoring a tough 3-2 win over Joao Monteiro.  Ovtcharov then downed Chen Chien-An 3-1 to advance to the Quarternfinals.  Ovtcharov will face Simon Gauzy, who won both of his early matches handily. Top seeded Hugo Calderano fell to Kang Dongsoo in the Round of 16.  […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo courtesy of ITTF) Dusseldorf led the German League all season – jumping out to a great start, and then extending their lead.  There was never any doubt that they’d make the Final Four, but they did split big matches with Saarbrucken earlier in the year, so there was some intrigue in the […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo courtesy of ITTF) Despite top Romanian players (three in the World Youth Top 10), it was an 18 year old Chinese player who turned heads.  Zeng Beixun, World No. 193, dominated the draw.  In fact, outside of a tight 3-2 Quarterfinal, Zeng was 15-1 in games over his other five wins – […]