(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)

The WTT Champions series arrived in Montpellier, France this week and after Saturday’s action, only the final four players remain.   In Men’s Singles, Hugo Calderano will face Jang Woojin in one Semifinal and in the other it will be Truls Moregard and Patrick Franziska.

Of the final four, only Moregard was a top seed – the fourth seed.  World No. 1 Sora Matsushima fell to Vladimir Sidorenko in the Round of 16.  World No. 2 Felix Lebrun fell in that same round – a 3-1 loss to Zhou Qihao. World No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto lost a round earlier, losing to Simon Gauzy in the opening round (Round of 32).

In recent weeks that included a pair of big Asian-only events, the biggest news has been strong play by Japan at the top of the Rankings and the depth of Chinese talent as they won the most recent teams event without their top player.  But in Montpellier, none of the top Chinese or Japanese players reached the Semifinals.  For China, Xiang Peng fell to Ovtcharov early, Liang Jingkun eliminated countryman Wen Ruibo on his way to the Quarters (where he lost to Woojin), Lin Shidong fell in the Quarters to Moregard, and while Zhou Qihao had a nice win over Felix Lebrun he followed that with an upset loss to Patrick Franziska.  Japan’s results were worse – they currently hold World No. 1 and 3 but neither player got past the round of 16. Togami was 1-1 and Shinozuka lost to Calderano so overall Japan’s four players managed only 2 wins out of the six matches they played.

Patrick Franziska has been a surprise so far, beating Alexis Lebrun, then Ranefur and then Zhou Qihao on his path to the Semis.  Moregard hasn’t had it easy either, though as World No. 3 he is expected to win even facing tough opponents like Togami and Shidong (both resulted in tight wins).  Those two will face off on Sunday afternoon in one Semifinal.  The other Semifinal will be Hugo Calderano and Jang Woojin – both have a history of strong performances in big events but its an odd pairing emerging from groupings that included Matsushima and Harimoto and Yun-Ju.  Both players have benefitted from earlier upsets – and each will have opportunity to extend their luck into a Finals run tomorrow.

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