by Ian Marshall, Editor

Very much Wang Yidi was the surprise name, having been required to qualify; equally colleague Zhou Yu, likewise a qualifier, upset the ranked order.

Men’s Singles

…………Lin Gaoyuan, the top seed, beat colleagues Wang Chuqin (10-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10, 11-7) and Liang Jingkun, the no.3 seed (8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6).

…………Commencing with the Grand Finals in December 2018, taking into account the ITTF World Tour and ITTF Challenge Series, it is the sixth consecutive men’s singles final for Lin Gaoyuan. He was the winner in Hungary, the runner up at the Grand Finals, also in Portugal, Qatar and China.

…………Zhou Yu caused the upset of the day, at the quarter-final stage he beat Germany’s Timo Boll, the no.4 seed (11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6) but adventures were cut short. In the penultimate round, he lost to Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, the no.2 seed (11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8).

…………At the quarter-final stage, Tomokazu Harimoto beat colleague, Jun Mizutani, the no.9 seed (13-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9).

Women’s Singles

…………Wang Yidi emerged the surprise name to reach the women’s singles final; at the quarter-final stage she beat Japan’s Saki Shibata, the no.8 seed (11-6, 15-13, 5-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-7), prior to overcoming Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching, the no.3 seed (11-7, 12-10, 11-7, 11-8).

…………It is the second time Wang Yidi has appeared in an ITTF World Tour women’s singles final; last year in Bulgaria she was beaten by colleague Ding Ning in the title decider.

…………Mima Ito, the no.2 seed, progressed to the final as status predicted. She beat Austria’s Sofia Polcanova, the no.14 seed (11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 14-12, 13-11), prior to ousting colleague Miu Hirano, the no.4 seed (18-16, 12-10, 11-6, 9-11, 6-11, 11-7).

…………It is the ninth time that Mima Ito has reached an ITTF World Tour women’s singles final

Mixed Doubles

…………Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-Ju and Cheng I-Ching, the no.5 seeds, beat Korea Republic’s Lee Sangsu and Choi Hyojoo, the no.6 seeds, to win the mixed doubles title (11-8, 11-3, 11-7).

…………Success for Lin Yu-Ju and Cheng I-Ching means they collect their third such title of the year; in March they succeeded at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open, seven days ago at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open