Tournaments

30 Oct 2018

An increasingly familiar face on the international scene but yet to make a major impact, Spain’s Zhang Xuan alongside the Korea Republic’s Kim Hayeong, emerged the players to make an impact at the quarter-final stage of the Under 21 Women’s Singles event at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open in Stockholm on the morning of Tuesday 30th October.

Moreover both emerged successful in straight games contests; most impressive performances were the order of proceedings.

by Ian Marshall, Editor

Zhang Xuan, the no.18 seed, beat Croatia’s Sun Jiayi, the no.15 seed (11-8, 11-9, 14-12), Kim Hayeong, the no.16 seed, caused somewhat of a bigger upset by overcoming Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chia-Hsuan, the no.6 seed (11-6, 13-11, 11-4), the highest rated player to reach the round of the last eight.

A win against the odds for Zhang Xuan but she had every right to enter the contest against Sun Jiayi with a degree of optimism; the previous day in the preliminary stage of the Under 21 Women’s Singles event, she had accounted for the Croatian in six games (11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10).

“I won four-two yesterday; she plays with short pimples on the forehand so the ball comes over low with little spin. I thought I would feel uncomfortable against that style of play but I felt fine; having played her yesterday and won, I was well prepared for the match today. I did feel a little nervous before the match today; you beat a player once so you should be able to win again but you never know. Serve and a strong first attack was the key today; really fast and low with the first forehand not too much spin. Winning the first helped my confidence but in the third game I was losing 8-10 and 10-11 before coming back to win.” Zhang Xuan

Success for Kim Hayeong and Zhang Xuan contrary to ranking; in the two remaining Under 21 Women’s Singles quarter-final contests, the outcomes were as anticipated.

Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz, the no.11 seed, beat Marie Migot of France, the no.16 seed (13-11, 11-7, 11-6); Choi Hyojoo, the no.17 seed, added to Korea Republic success by overcoming Hong Kong’s Zhu Chengzhu, the no.21 seed (11-4, 11-6, 15-13).

At the semi-final stage Adriana Diaz meets Choi Hyojoo, Zhang Xuan opposes Kim Hayeong; the Under 21 Women’s Singles event will be played to a conclusion later in the day.

World Tour 2018 Seamaster Swedish Open Zhang Xuan Kim Hayeong
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