MUSCAT: World No 33 England’s Liam Pitchford stunned World No 8 Lin Yun-ju of Chinese Taipei 3-1 ( 11-6, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9) to enter the men’s singles quarterfinals of the WTT Contender Muscat 2023 on Thursday.
At the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, the Briton was in full flow in the first two sets to take a 2-0 lead. Lin, who showed signs of a comeback in the second set, pulled one back in the third set 11-3. However, Pitchford returned to his best form in the fourth to claim it 11-9.
Pitchford will face the winner of last 16 contest between Japanese paddlers Shunsuke Togami and Sora Matsushima, in the quarterfinal.
Japan’s World No 4 Tomokazu Harimoto advanced to the men’s singles quarterfinals after a hard-fought 3-2 victory against compatriot Hiroto Shinozuka. Harimoto prevailed 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 12-10 in a see-saw contest.
Harimoto will meet World No 23 Anton Kallberg in the last-eight clash. Sweden’s Kallberg accounted for compatriot World No 37 Kristian Karlsson 3-2 in another thriller. Kallberg won 9-11, 13-11, 7-11, 15-13, 11-6.
France’s Simon Gauzy (World No 27) beat Anders Lind of Denmark (World No 29) 3-1 to make it to the men’s singles quarterfinals.
After losing the first set closely by 10-12, Gauzy was in his elements in the next three sets winning the match 11-8, 11-2, 11-8.
Portugal’s Joao Geraldo and Brazil’s Hugo Calderano will meet in the men’s singles quarterfinals after progressing from their last 16 matches on Thursday.
Geraldo beat Germany’s Benedikt Duda 3-1 while Calderano edged France’s Jules Rolland 3-2.
HAYATA THROUGH
In the women’s singles, World No 8 Hina Hayata of Japan set up a quarterfinal date with World No 33 Jeon Jihee of South Korea.
Hayata edged out Yang Ha Eun of South Korea 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 12-10) while Jihee beat Italy’s Giorgia Piccolin in straight sets 11-3, 11-5, 11-5.
Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu will take on Miyu Nagasaki of Japan in the women’s quarterfinal after advancing from the last-16 matches.
Also advancing to the last eight were Germany’s Nina Mittelham who set up a match with Miwa Harimoto of Japan.
On Wednesday, 17-year-old star Oh Junsung dramatically secured his ticket to the last 16 of the men’s singles after an upset 3-2 win over Dimitrij Ovtcharov (9-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8).
Ranked at No 101 in the ITTF World Rankings, Oh was meeting the World No 9 for the first time at an international ranking event.
Making his WTT Series debut almost exactly four months ago in Lagos, Oh was well aware the odds weren’t stacked in his favour, with his round of 32 opponent in Muscat being a two-time Olympic men’s singles bronze medallist and former World No 1.
Dimitrij Ovtcharov set the pace early on, winning the first set but Oh was brilliant in the second to take it 11-5. Ovtcharov repeated his show in the first set to claim the third set. However, Junsung was unstoppable in the fourth and fifth for a famous win.
A frustrating day at the office for Ovtcharov, it proved an equally disappointing day for Dima’s German compatriot Dang Qiu, who also saw his campaign halted at the first hurdle.
Like Ovtcharov, fifth seed Qiu led twice in his opening round encounter against Joao Geraldo, but Qiu failed to press home the advantage as World No 47 Geraldo saved four match points in the decider to upstage the penholder (8-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-8, 16-14).
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