by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

The no.3 seed, Quadri Aruna emerged successful but he came very close to a Zagreb repeat.

He trailed by three games to one before recovering to secure victory by the very narrowest of margins in a tension packed seventh game (8-11, 7-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-9).

Success for Quadri Aruna and there was also success for the one other seeded player in the top half the second round Men’s Singles draw; Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the top seed, who like Quadri Aruna had survived the carnage of the previous day, emerged victorious.

He prevailed in a contest that was not as dramatic as the Quadri Aruna versus Yuto Kizukuri duel but was equally hard fought. After losing the first two games, Dimitrij Ovtcharov recovered to win the next four to secure success against Sweden’s Elias Ranefur (8-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-8, 11-9).

Last eight places for Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Quadri Aruna; likewise in the top half the draw in the second round of the Men’s Singles event, there were also wins for Mizuki Oikawa and for Asuka Machi.

In all-Japanese duels Mizuki Oikawa beat Yukiya Uda (11-1, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7) and thus experienced success against his compatriot once more on the ITTF World Tour. One year ago at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Czech Open, Mizuki Oikawa had also emerged the winner in the opening round Under 21 Men’s Singles contest.

An impressive performance by Mizuki Oikawa, it was very much the same from Asuka Machi; he accounted for colleague Koyo Kanamitsu in five games (12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7).

At the quarter-final stage Dimitrij Ovtcharov faces Misuki Oikawa, Asuka Machi opposes Quadri Aruna.

The quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Men’s Singles event will be played on Saturday 18th August.