By Neha Aggarwal
A disappointing day for India, but all the appreciation goes to both the players who put in their best effort and displayed some fantastic table tennis.
Lai Chi-Chien started the game well by taking a herculean lead of 3-1. Bhanja had no answers to Lai Chi-Chien’s speed, which clearly surpassed Bhanja’s. However, Bhanja did not give up at any cost. His balance of close to the table counter attacks and lob game away from the table fetched him the next two games to make it 3-3. The deciding game was a thriller that concluded at 13-11 in the favor of Lai Chi-Chien. He won 6-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 3-11, 13-11.
On the other side, Manav Vikash Thakkar was knocked down by Li Hsin-Yang in six games. Li Hsin-Yang got an early lead of 2-0, but Manav leveled the game to 2-2. Manav’s defense worked in his favor but Li Hsin-Yang was way too strong today. He won 6-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11.
“I had many good opportunities, even though I played well, I think he played better than me today. Its disappointing to miss out on such a great opportunity” said Manav.
Top seed Darko Jorgic was possibly the biggest causality today as he was beaten by Romania’s Alexandru Manole in the quarter finals. Both the Europeans have played each other five times in the past and Jorgic heads 3-2. Today, Manole leveled their head to head 3-3.
“It was a very hard match. Both of us did not play the best of the game that we play.The conditions are very different here. But even between the two of us, I think I made less mistakes and thus managed to win. That was the key for me” Alexandru Manole.
Japan’s Koyo Kanamitsu beat Germany’s Tobias Hippler in six games 11-13, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 2-11, 11-9 to make it to the semi finals stage.
The semi final line up is:
Alexandru Manole vs Lai Chi-Chien
Koyo Kanamitsu vs Li Hsin-Yang
Matches will be played LIVE on ITTF’s YouTube Channel from 11:10am IST onwards.
More Information:
- Matches of Day two
- Matches of Day three
- Live streaming link for semi finals
- Live streaming link for finals
