(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
Lin Shidong easily overcame the efforts of Anton Kallberg as World No. 1 moved in to the Quarterfinals of the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Doha. Liang Jingkun was pushed early by Tom Jarvis, but after being tied 2-2, Jingkun dominated the final two games and finished the match with a 4-2 victory. For Jarvis, this Final 16 run is a career best, and his ranking will reflect that as he will make a big jump of more than 50 spots.
The other underdog, Simon Gauzy was also stopped on Thursday – as Wang Chuqin eliminated him 4-2. Gauzy jumped out to a 2-0 lead, and two of the remaining games were tight – but Chuqin secured the win 4-2. Lin Yun-Ju won a 7 game thriller against Patrick Franziska – with 3 of Yun-Ju’s won games coming after the two were tied at or after 9-9. After eliminating Harimoto in the Round of 32, Shunsuke Togami topped Darko Jorgic 4-3 in the Round of 16. Togami now moves on to face Moregard in the Quarters. Truls Moregard won the seventh game 14-12 to escape his match with Jang Woojin.
Hugo Calderano breezed past Quadri Aruna 4-0. Calderano has dropped a few games, but he has yet to be tested – and has had one of the easiest paths thus far. Calderano will face An Jaehyun who managed to defeat Felix Lebrun. Unlike Calderano, Jaehyun has been behind late in his last two matches – needing all seven games to defeat Lin Yen-Chun and Felix Lebrun.
The Quarterfinal matches are underway now – so more updates will be posted soon.
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