(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
Zhou Qihao and Yukiya Uda had wins over higher seeds, but most of the Day 3 China Smash action favored the higher seeds in Beijing. The top two seeds in action today each won 3-1, with Lin Shidong topping Shunsuke Togami and Hugo Calderano defeating Simon Gauzy. Zhou Qihao had a 3-0 win over Anders Lind, with a pair of tight 11-9 wins to start off on the right track. Xiang Peng has won both of his matches 3-0 thus far, and because two of the higher seeds in his section of the draw are already out, he will have a decided ranking advantage over France’s Flavien Cotton in the next round.
Truls Moregard dropped the first game before roaring back for a 3-1 win over Omar Assar. Moregard will face Yukiya Uda who upset Lin Yun-Ju 3-2. Kristian Karlsson defeated Yuan Licen 3-0 to advance to face Lin Shidong. Shidong defeated Shunsuke Togame 3-1. More Men’s action in this round is scheduled for Wednesday.
Women’s Singles on Day 3 was largely a series of wins by the higher seeded player. One of two exceptions for the day was Wang Xiaotong who defeated Hana Goda of Egypt – a loss to a higher ranked player, but a win by a strong Chinese player quickly moving up the rankings. Xiaotong will face Sun Yingsha in the Round of 16. Wang Yidi will face Honoka Hashimoto – each logging dominant 3-0 wins today. Chen Xingtong defeated Xiaona Shan of German and she moves on to face Li Yu-Jhun. Yu-Jhun is the other exception, the Taipei player upset Bernadette Szocs 3-0. Chen Yi needed all five games to advance past Qian Tianyi. And Zhu Yuling logged her second 3-0 win in a row in taking out Bruna Takahashi. Like the Men, the second half of this round is scheduled for Wednesday.
One early round doubles note – China’s Wang Yidi teamed with USA’s Lily Zhang and the pair won their opening round match 3-0 over Andrea Dragoman and Charlotte Lutz (of Romania and France). The US/China team moves on to face the Chinese pair of Qian Tianyi and Chen Xingtong.
Lots of quality table tennis on tap all week long – we’ll have more updates soon.
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