by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

They were beaten by the Japanese combination of Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima, the no.5 seeds, a partnership with one of the very best records in the current era. Notably they were the runners up at the Liebherr 2017 World Championships whilst later in the year emerging successful at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals.

Impressively Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima succeeded in four games (11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6).

“We are happy to get into the semi-final. The past record against the Koreans is one win and three losses, so we are very satisfied with our performance today. We knew our opponents well and we did lots of preparations for this match. We will try our best in the semi-final and hope to get into the final.” Masataka Morizono

Success for Japan and there was further success for the Land of the Rising Sun. Jin Ueda and Maharu Yoshimura, the no.2 seeds, beat Swedish qualifiers Pär Gerell and Jon Persson (11-7, 11-8, 11-7).

Meanwhile, for Hong Kong it was mixed fortunes. Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting, the no.3 seeds, accounted for Chinese Taipei’s Liao Cheng-Ting and Lin Yun-Ju (11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 12-10); conversely Lam Siu Hang and Ng Pak Nam experienced defeat at the hands of Germany’s Patrick Franziska and Denmark’s Jonathan Groth, the no.4 seeds (11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 12-10).

“We are happy to win the match. Lam and Ng are very strong. The last few points in the last game were quite difficult as our opponents tried to change the rhythm and played some high risk points. We played good backhands in this match and we were able to close the game.” Jonathan Groth

At the semi-final stage to be played later today, Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima face Patrick Franziska and Jonathan Groth; Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting oppose Jin Ueda and Maharu Yoshimura.