by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Xue Fei ended the progress of surprise quarter-finalist, Frenchman Joe Seyfried, the no.25 seed; he emerged successful in four games (7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-3).

Likewise, by a similar margin, Chen Ke, the no.5 seed, prevailed against Japan’s Minami Ando, the no.4 seed (11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8); however, for Sun Mingyang, the no.27 seed, life was much more exacting. She needed the full five games to overcome Japan’s Miyu Nagasaki, the no.13 seed (5-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6).

Two wins contrary to seeding at the quarter-final stage of the Under 21 Women’s Singles event; however that was the sum total of defeats for leading names. In the counterpart contests, Hong Kong’s Minnie Soo Wai Yam, the top seed, beat Germany’s Chantal Mantz, the no.17 seed (14-12, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8), Japan’s Miyu Maeda, the no.3 seed, ended the progress of Korea’s Lee Zion, the no.7 seed (8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6).

At the semi-final stage Minnie Soo Wai Yam meets Chen Ke, Miyu Maeda opposes Sun Mingyang.

Meanwhile, at the quarter-final stage of the Under 21 Men’s Singles event; there was one arguable surprise but of a very minor nature. In an all Japanese contest, Mizuki Oikawa, the no.5 seed, accounted for Yuto Kizukuri, the no.4 seed (6-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8).

In the penultimate exchanges, Mizuki Oikawa meets Chinese Taipei’s Liao Cheng-Ting; Xue Fei opposes Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit; in the round of the last eight, Ho Kwan Kit, the top seed, beat Japan’s Kazuhiro Yoshimura, the no.6 seed (11-7, 13-11, 11-9), Liao Cheng-Ting, the no.2 seed, overcame the Czech Republic’s Tomas Polansky, the no.16 seed (9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-8).

The semi-finals of both the Under 21 Men’s Singles and Under 21 Women’s Singles events will be played on Thursday 9th November.