Vladimir SAMSONOV reached the semi final of the Men’s Singles Event at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Portugal Open. Belarusian suffered by the hands of the Chinese top seed LIN Gaoyuan in a spectacular affair. Despite holding a lead by the close of game three Vladi couldn’t quite find the finishing touch as LIN Gaoyuan took his game up another notch sealing the win by a 4-2 margin (11-7 11-13 8-11 11-9 11-8 11-7).
China’s LIN Gaoyuan and LIU Shiwen the top seeds beat Slovakia’s Lubomir PISTEJ and Tatiana KUKULKOVA the no.2 seeds in three straight games (11-8 11-6 11-4) to clinch the crown in Mixed Doubles Event. LIN Gaoyuan and LIU Shiwen add to the success enjoyed last year on the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour. On home soil in Shenzhen Lin Gaoyuan won in partnership with CHEN Xingtong; later in the year LIU Shiwen struck gold when she joined forces with XU Xin in Linz.
The winner in both 2017 and 2018 in Belgium Japan’s Shunsuke TOGAMI emerged victorious in the under 21 men’s singles final; he beat China’s XIANG Peng in three straight games (12-10 12-10 11-7). The women’s singles runner up on the 2014 ITTF World Tour in Argentina when beaten in the final by colleague HE Zhoujia China’s FAN Siqi resisted a brave recovery by Romania’s Adina DIACONU to clinch the under 21 women’s singles title (11-8 12-10 2-11 8-11 11-9).
