by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Japan’s Yuya Oshima and Tomakazu Harimoto, the respective opponents for Ma Long and Xu Xin duly received walk-overs, as did Korea’s Kim Doinghyun who was scheduled to meet Fan Zhendong.
Meanwhile, for the matches that were completed, the player to experience the closest call was Koki Niwa, the no.8 seed, he needed the full seven games to overcome Japanese national team colleague, Yuto Muramatsu (11-9, 7-11, 4-11, 11-4, 12-14, 11-9, 11-6).
A close call, it was only marginally more comfortable for the German duo of Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov; both needed six games to ensure their progress. Dimitrij Ovtcharov beat Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson, the no.15 seed (9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4, 12-10); Timo Boll, the no.7 seed, overcame qualifier Egypt’s Omar Assar (7-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-4, 7-11, 11-3).
Success for Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Timo Boll; in the two remaining second round Men’s Singles contests it was success for Masaki Yoshida and Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting.
Masaki Yoshida beat Japanese compatriot, Jin Ueda, likewise a qualifier (11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6); Wong Chun Ting, the no.5 seed, ended the hopes of Kenta Matsudaira, the no.11 seed and also from Japan (11-6, 16-14, 11-8, 11-6).
At the quarter-final stage Yuya Oshima meets Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Wong Chun Ting opposes Masaki Yoshida; in the opposite half of the draw Tomokazu Harimoto confronts Koki Niwa, Timo Boll plays Kim Donghyun.
The Men’s Singles quarter-final and semi-final matches will be played on Saturday 24th June.
