(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
Germany’s Patrick Franziska gave hope to Germany fans with his heroics, but ultimately the title went to the higher seeded Tomokazu Harimoto at the WTT Champions series event in Frankfurt. On the women’s side, Hina Hayata logged a Semifinal upset win and carried the momentum through the Final as Japan swept both weekend singles titles in Germany.
Patrick Franziska’s run was strong, defeating Xiang Peng in the opening round 3-1, then topping Benedikt Duda 3-2, then upsetting World No. 1 Sora Matsushima before beating Togami in the Semifinals. In the lower half of the draw, things progressed more normally for Harimoto where the second seed was hardly tested with easy wins over Sidorenko, Jonghoon, and Dang Qiu before a tight 4-3 win over Lin Yun-Ju and a dominant 4-2 Finals win over Franziska. Both players have had strong results recently – and both have been pushing steadily up the World Rankings.
Hina Hayata was a bit of a surprise winner in Women’s Singles, but the World No. 6 was the fourth seed, so it wasn’t a total surprise. Hayata’s run at the end was a tough one, defeating Kuai Man 4-3 in the Quarters, then Top Seed Harimoto 4-1 before sweeping past Satsuki Odo 4-2 in the Final.
The next tour stop is in Istanbul – and action starts tomorrow.
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