(by Steve Hopkins)

There were some big surprises in early action this week at the WTT Champions series event in Frankfurt.  Top seed Hugo Calderano fought past his first round opponent Jang Woojin just to lose in the next round to Simon Gauzy – the second early departure for Calderano in as many weeks.  Second seeded Tomokazu Harimoto met the same fate, defeating Jonathan Groth in the Round of 32 before falling to Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the Round of 16.

USA’s Kanak Jha had another milestone win, taking out Euro 16 Champion Darko Jorgic.  Jha continues to post strong outings on the tour, and this week he secured another $6,000 purse and another 90 ranking points.  Jha continues to flirt with the Top 20, currently No. 23 but only 150 points separates him from World No. 18 so American fans can expect to see him move up the rankings a few spots next week.  Jha fell in the Round of 16 this week, losing to Japanese teen Sora Matsushima (who in a very short time has moved all the way up to No. 13 – and may be in the Top 10 before this year ends.

The Quarterfinals are now set for Saturday action with Simon Gauzy facing Lee Sang Su (both just off of upset wins, Gauzy over Calderano and Lee of Lin Yun-Ju).  Anton Kallberg had back to back upsets – defeating Truls Moregard and then Alexis Lebrun.  Kallberg now advances to face Dang Qiu.  Anders Lind will face off against Felix Lebrun.  And Sora Matsushima will face off against Dimitrij Ovtcharov.  Semifinals and Finals will be played on Sunday.

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