(by Steve Hopkins)
Sora Matsushima and Yukiya UDA were both underdogs in the early (12:10 and 12:20) matches, but both came away with upset victories to start an exciting day 5 at the China Smash in Beijing. The first men’s competition of the day was between World No. 5 Triels Moregard and World No. 33 Yukiya UDA. UDA came on fire, he was the faster player, and although his standard fortress attack is a rounder, a stroke of the triels – when he flat the shot to finish the point, his forehand was electric. UDA won the first two games and then the two traded games – a solid victory for UDA to start the day.
The other competition that went at the same time was between Sora Matsushima and Liang Jingkun. Just like the other competition, the Underdog registered the first victory. In this competition, however, it was a Slugfest from there. Two big boys (both stocky of stature – although both also less than 6 feet), bone balls back as if they were bumping. Jingkun won the second match, Matsushima won the third, Jingkun won the fourth and then sealed Matsushima the win 3-2 (4, 9, 8, -8, 8).
The other small upset of the day was the 20-year-old Chinese player Chen Junsong (World No. 113) about the Japanese Kazuki Hamada (World No. 78) in a 3-2 battle for Underdogs. Both had already registered large disruptions to reach this point with Junokazu Harimoto and Hamada that navigated past Oh Junsung.
The quarter -final matchups are now set with Wang Chuqin opposite Sora Matsushima, Hugo Calderano opposite Xiang Peng, Felix Lebrun opposite Chen Junsong and Lin Shidong opposite Yukiya UDA. Each of the four quarters has a Chinese player – a treat for the fans in Beijing. Only two of those Chinese players will prefer to win as World No. 1 and no.2 continue to press – with the umbrella story that Lin Shidong World no. 1 can reclaim if he can reach a level further than Wang Chuqin in these last three games. The quarters are divided between Friday and Saturday.
Lots of quality table tennis on tap all week long – we will have more updates soon.
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