The final day of the Bank of Communications 2020 ITTF Finals at the Zhengzhou Olympic Sports Centre will commence without Europeans. Both Swede Mattias FALCK and Germany’s Petrissa SOLJA finished their play in the quarterfinal.
In the re-run of the 2019 World Championships Men’s Singles Final MA Long overcame FALCK in six games (11-5 7-11 5-11 11-6 11-9 13-11). Previously FALCK beat Simon GAUZY of France in seven games thriller whilst MA Long prevailed against Germany’s Patrick FRANZISKA in straight games.
In the Round of 16 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany suffered by the hands of Chinese Taipei teenager LI Yun Yu 4-2. It was the duel at the knife edge between two club mates from the Fakel Gazprom Orenburg. England’s Liam PITCHFORD lost to Brazil’s Hugo CALDERANO 4-0.
Dimitrij OVTCHAROV’S disappointment at the narrow defeat was clearly evident: “Unfortunately in the fourth game after being in the lead I had one or two mistakes due the lost of focus; with a 3-1 lead the game will certainly be very different. It was very close today. It was definitely better today than last week. I think that at some point I was very good and even better than adversary which also unsettled him. I need few more competitions to settle into the rhythm.”
In the Women’s Singles quarterfinal Petrissa SOLJA lost to top seeded Chinese star and World Cup winner CHEN Meng (9-11 10-12 11-5 11-5 11-8 11-2 11-6). Previously SOLJA overcame FENG Tianwei by same margin.
“It was a roller coaster match a lot of ups and downs. In the last game I was 2-8 down because I rushed it too much because I thought I had the chance to win this match. I tried to stay calm take it slow and I am very satisfied with my performance. I also enjoy being able to play in front of spectators again ” said SOLJA after Round of 16.
