MAGDEBURG: China’s top seed Chen Meng had a tough fight against South Korean Suh Hyowon here on Thursday and snatched the win in 7 games at ITTF German Open.
In the women’s singles competition, Chen was locked in an intense affair against Suh Hyowon. With the scores sitting at 3-3, Chen recovered from a three point deficit in the deciding game to establish a 5-3 lead.
Suh was looking somewhat comfortable and called for a medical time out. Returning to the table, Suh Hyowon lacked the momentum she had established before as Chen survived a nervy contest over seven games (12-14, 11-5, 10-12, 7-11, 11-7, 15-13, 11-4). Fifth seed Zhu Yuling edged Russia’s Polina Mikhailova 4-3 (11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 5-11, 12-10) to set up a meeting with Petrissa Solja from Germany in the next round. Chen Xingtong lost to Japan’s Honoka Hashimoto by a 4-2 margin (11-7, 8-11, 11-3, 11-4, 4-11, 11-7).
In the men’s singles, Qiu Dang, representing Germany, was outplayed by the World and Olympic champion Ma Long, the No. 3 seed from China 4-0 (15-13, 11-8, 13-11, 11-7). Jang Woojin from South Korea suffered a defeat at the hands of China’s Xu Chenhao 4-0 (11-9, 11-7, 12-10, 11-5). – Agencies
