Brave effort but Feng Tianwei exits
Women’s Singles: Quarterfinals
Singapore’s Feng Tianwei is out of the running in the race for women’s singles glory following a tricky battle with China’s Ding Ning.
A tight first game in Ding’s favour, the three-time World champion then went on to double her advantage soon after with a strong showing in game two. Feng kept her ambitions alive with a narrow but decisive win in game three and had her chances in the following game but ultimately fell short. With Fast5 coming in both players held game point at 4-4 in game five, an opportunity Ding grasped with open arms to secure her spot in the semifinals (11-9, 11-5, 10-11, 11-9, 5-4).
No mercy!
Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals
Heading to Johor Bahru off the back of a difficult run of form but Fan Zhendong is showing off some of his best play and backing it up with another fine win, this time at the expense of fellow Chinese compatriot Lin Gaoyuan.
Meeting for the first time this year, the two were expected to play out a closely contested encounter but in reality the scoreboard favoured one player clearly above the other as Fan prevailed by a thunderous 4-0 margin. Next up for Fan is another familiar face in the form of Xu Xin (11-8, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8).
Lin Yun-Ju stuns World champion!
Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals
17-year-old Chinese Taipei star Lin Yun-Ju has chalked up the upset of the men’s singles draw in Johor Bahru, eliminating three-time World champion Ma Long at the quarterfinals stage!
A thrilling affair throughout, Lin showed great maturity and character to fight back from 1-2 down to claim a 3-2 games lead. The crowd were shocked and with Fast5 in deployment, the pressure continued to grow for Ma but the Chinese legend had the opportunity to force a decider with a 3-4 lead in game six. However, against the odds Lin recovered back-to-back points to take the game 5-4, completing a fantastic victory in the process (8-11, 11-2, 4-11, 11-8, 5-3, 5-4).
Zhu Yuling makes a statement
Women’s Singles: Quarterfinals
Impressive in her opening round encounter, former World no.1 Zhu Yuling looked even more imperious in her quarterfinal meeting with Sun Yingsha.
Just 18 years old, Sun has been one of the standout names on the international stage in recent weeks with title-winning displays at the 2019 Japan Open and 2019 Korea Open. However, in this head-to-head it was Zhu who held the upper hand, powering to a commanding 4-0 victory (11-6, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8).
Franziska unable to keep European hopes alive
Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals
In a match where the score did not tell the full story, Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting saw off German Patrick Franziska in the quarterfinals (11-9, 11-10, 10-11, 11-2, 5-3).
Being 6 points down in the second game Wong rallied back with strength and pace in his shots, and completely shook the composure of the German. While Patrick won the next game, the match was all but over when Wong used the pace of the FAST5 game to perfection.
Wang in song
Women’s Singles: Quarterfinals
Germany’s Han Ying was unable to stop the running train that was China’s Wang Manyu who needed no FAST5 games to move on to the semifinals here in Johor Bahru.
After having a powerful display for her rallies in the last round, Han deployed the same tactic against Wang. But the first seed was having none of it, biding her time in every rally for the perfect forehand winner. (11-5, 11-6, 11-6, 11-10)
Xu in cruise control
Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals
Xu Xin was in total control as he saw off Sweden’s in-form Mattias Falck 4:1 (11-6, 11-6, 10-11, 11-3, 5-1).
There was a look of disbelief on Xu’s face when Mattias took 6 consecutive points to claim the third game of the match. Perhaps that was the push he needed, because Xu-perman was at his best after that-claiming a spot in the semifinals with little sweat and just the one FAST5 game.
Kato causes a major upset
Women’s Singles: Quarterfinals
There are few better ways to start your weekend than upsetting the World #1. Japan’s Miyu Kato resonated with that feeling as she played out of her skin to defeat China’s Chen Meng 4:2 (11-4, 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 2-5, 5-4)
It was a case of just how many times Miyu could keep Chen on her backhand which allowed the Japanese to take advantage. Taking two games straight early on, Miyu knew she was in for a battle. Roaring back into the match, Chen increased the pace of her forehands but could not handle the incredible service of her opponent. Eventually, Miyu used the second FAST5 game to wrap up an impressive victory.
Match Day 3 underway
Are you ready for another day of drama in Johor Bahru? – Here’s the fixture schedule for Match Day 3 and make sure to watch along live:
