by Ian Marshall, Editor

Success meant the 18 year old took one step closer in his bid to emulate the player against whom he had experienced defeat in the Budapest final; on that occasion, he had lost to colleague, Fan Zhandong, the winner four years ago in Nanjing.

”I played well against Moregard today, this is probably my best match so far here at the Youth Olympic Games, he is a very strong opponent, very highly skilled. He gave me a lot of difficulties in the match but I came into the match well prepared and was able to adapt quickly to overcome these difficulties in the end.” Wang Chuqin

Victory for Wang Chuqin meant the end of European hopes. Earlier Ioannis Sgouropoulos of Greece, the no.8 seed, had experienced defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju, the no.4 seed (6-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5), the defeat coming after Romania’s Cristian Pletea, the no.9 seed, had lost to Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, the top seed (11-3, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 9-11, 11-6).

“It was a tough match but my backhand was strong and effective and I’m happy to win eventually. My next opponent will be a tough one, so I will get ready for the next match mentally and physically.” Tomokazu Harimoto

Progress for Tomokazu Harimoto and Lin Yun-Ju as seeding predicted, in the contest that brought the third day of play to a conclusion, it was a similar scenario. Kanak Jha of the United States, the no.2 seed, ended the hopes of Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen, the no.10 seed; he prevailed in five games (11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-2).

At the semi-final stage Tomokazu Harimoto meets Lin Yun-Ju, Wang Chuqin opposes Kanak Jha.

Both the semi-finals and final of the Men’s Singles event will be played on Wednesday 10th October.