by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Furthermore, to reach the semi-final stage, on the evening of the opening day of action, he had to beat an Asian player very much in form.
The no.8 seed, after accounting for Frenchman Joe Seyfried, the no.16 seed (15-13, 11-8, 11-8), he ended the progress of Thailand’s Padasak Tanviriyavechakul, the no.14 seed (11-9, 11-8, 11-6).
Earlier in the day, Padasak Tanviriyavechakul had shown a distinct liking for Hong Kong; in the opening round he had recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat Kwan Man Ho by the very narrowest of margins (11-13, 4-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-9), before accounting for Li Hon Ming in straight games (11-9, 11-8, 11-6). Notably in the opening round Li Hon Ming had ousted Sweden’s Anton Källberg, the no.2 seed (11-9, 11-8, 11-6).
“I felt tired when we started this morning, I play in Spain for San Sebastian and we had a match yesterday; I think Kwan Man Ho was tired and Li Hon Ming seemed to have no energy. Li Hon Ming is good in the short game but today I was able to attack quickly.” Padasak Tanviriyavechakul.
Defeat for Hong Kong but there was success; Lam Siu Hang, after overcoming Spain’s Miguel Vilchez (11-9, 11-6, 13-11) ended Swedish progress by beating Elias Ranefur, the no.6 seed (11-2, 12-10, 11-9) to reserve his penultimate round place.
Progress in style for Lam Siu Hang, it was the same Japan’s Asuka Sakai, the no.7 seed but rather more exacting for Korea’s Park Ganghyeon the no.9 seed.
Asuka Sakai ended the hopes of Chinese Taipei; after beating Sun Chia-Hung, the no.15 seed (11-4, 12-10, 11-9), he overcame Yang Heng-Wei, the no.3 seed (11-4, 11-2, 11-4).
Meanwhile, Park Ganghyeon booked his semi-final place, courtesy of success in opposition to colleague and top seed, Cho Seungmin, a contest in in which he recovered from a two games to nil deficit (3-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4); one round earlier Park Ganhyeon had defeated Gleb Shamruk of Belarus (11-5, 11-8, 11-13, 11-5).
At the semi-final stage Park Ganghyeon meets Asuka Sakai; Lam Siu Hang opposes Darko Jorgic; the semi-final and final will be played on Wednesday 15th November.
