By Neha Aggarwal
Singapore’s Feng Tianwei, the fourth seeded player in the Women’s Singles had a tough challenge in the morning as she survived against Germany’s Kristin Silbereisen in six games (8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9) in the Women’s Singles round of 16 matches here at the Messe arena in Düsseldorf.
Fighting against the humongous German crowd, Feng Tianwei was tested. The match saw some amazing close to the table backhand to backhand counter attacks. Tianwei was pushed back in many occasions but managed to keep her nerves right. “I knew that Silbereisen would be a tough fight. She seemed to be well prepared too,” said Tianwei in her post match interview.
She will now compete against Japan’s Miu Hirano in the quarter- finals. She lost to Miu Hirano in the semi-finals of the 2016 Women’s World Cup, certainly the pressure must be strong. But the clam Tainwei said,
“Miu Hirano is so strong now, I will play against her as if she’s someone from China. She has improved so fast, which is pretty impressive. But I am going to give in my best.”- Feng Tianwei
World no.1 Ding Ning sailed smoothly to the quarter finals beating Li Jie (NED) in straight games (11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9). In the quarter finals, she is up against Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa, the no.6 seed. Ishikawa beat Romania’s Elizabeta Samara in also four games (11-6, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8).
In the bottom half, third seed Zhu Yuling knocked out Japan’s Ito Mima in a nail biting six games encounter (11-9, 8-11, 11-1, 6-11,11-7, 11-5) . Following suit, Chen Meng beat Romania’s Daniela Dodean Monteiro (11-7, 11-2, 11-7, 3-11, 11-8).
The two Chinese now meet in the quarter-finals to be played at 15:45pm on 2nd June 2017.
Second seed Liu Shiwen sailed smooth beating Kim Song I (PRK) 4-0 and will meet up Mu Zi in the quarter finals, who beat Miyu Kato in 4-0 match.
Mu Zi is unranked here in the Women’s Singles, and by far remains the most interesting player to see progress in the quarter finals. She has already played seven matches as she had to compete in the qualification rounds as well. Will that deter her fight against Liu Shiwen?
Check the list here to find out where to watch the matches.
