Wang Chuqin in action at Aspire Academy yesterday.
Chinese teenager Wang Chuqin stunned defending champion Ma Long to advance to the quarter-finals of the 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open with a stunning 4-3 win (13-15, 14-12, 4-11, 11-8, 3-11, 13-11, 11-6) at the Aspire Academy Hall yesterday.
In a thrilling affair featuring world class rallies throughout, Long held the games lead three times during the match but failed to capitalise as teenager Wang pulled off one of the most outstanding wins of his career to book a date with compatriot Liang Jingkun for a place in the semi-finals.
Former finalist Hugo Calderano was also shown the exit door by French qualifier Simon Gauzy in the Round of 16 after a thrilling encounter which saw the latter advancing into the quarter-finals with a 5-3 win (6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-1, 11-8).
Earlier, in the pre-quarter-finals, 2017 winner and two time-finalist, Wang Manyu recorded a 4-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-2, 11-7) victory over Austria’s Sofia Polcanova, in under 28 minutes.
Meanwhile, her compatriot Zhu Yuling took on – and saw off – the Japanese Sakura Mori, winning in straight games (11-4, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9) to reach the final eight.
Chen Xingtong and Mima Ito took on their compatriots Sun Yingsha and Hitomi Sato respectively. However, it was the performance from Chen that pulled focus as she eliminated world no.2 Sun Yingsha.
Winning in straight games, Chen was in a different mood altogether as she kept Sun on the backfoot and prevented the young speedster from any of her favourite shots (11-9, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4).
For Ito, it was a good 4-1 (11-7, 11-4, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7) win as well, accounting for Sato in a deeply impressive fashion.
In the men’s doubles final, Chinese superstar Ma Long and Xu Xin will meet England’s Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford.
Ma Long and Xin looked simply unbeatable in yesterday’s semi-final, finding their combinations without a hitch as the top seeded pair stormed past Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin by a 3-0 score-line (11-6, 11-9, 11-9).
The second seeded Hong Kong China combination of Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting appeared to had steadied the ship after successfully recovering from 2-0 down to draw level at 2-2, but an inspirational display from Drinkhall and Pitchford in game five saw the English duo complete a dramatic 3-2 upset (11-7, 12-10, 4-11, 9-11, 11-7).
In the women’s doubles semi-finals, Chinese competitors Wang Manyu and Zhu Yuling seeded second, pushed right down to the wire in their encounter with Japanese no.4 seeds Miu Hirano and Kasumi Ishikawa but eventually came good 3-2 (11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8).
The Chinese duo will now meet the top seeds, Japan’s Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki who advanced to the title decider with a 3-1 win opver Singapore’s Lin Ye and Yu Mengyu (11-3, 14-12, 8-11, 12-10).
The mixed doubles final of the Qatar ITTF World Tour Platinum event will also see a Chinese-Japanese duel today.
The Chinese prodigies Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha defeated Spain’s Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao in yesterday’s first semi-final. Fans at the Aspire Academy Hall burst into cheered as the two Chinese youngsters claimed the game in emphatic passion in 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-5).
