Reigning Olympic and World champion Ding Ning was knocked out of the 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open by her Chinese compatriot and top seed Chen Meng. In a day of upsets, Brazil’s Hugo Calderano, the No 14 seed, shocked No 2. seed Germany’s Timo Boll in the men’s singles at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah arena yesterday.
But it was the defeat of Ding Ning which was more surprising as that opened the field in the women’s singles. Chen Meng was in devastating form as she beat Ding Ning in five games 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 17-15, 11-6.
“The first three games were tight, very tight; there were many rallies in the match. They key was the fourth game; throughout the game Ding Ning was leading and I kept coming back, to win that game was a major boost. After that I played with more confidence,” said Chen Meng.
Later in the quarter-finals, Chen Meng beat Wang Yidi 11-10, 11- 8, 18-16, 11-6 to seal her place in the semis.
China’s Wang Manyu also sealed her place in the semis with a 5-11, 11-4, 11- 5, 11- 5,11- 2 win over Sun Yingsha. The other two semi-finalists will be decided today with Kasumi Ishikawa taking on Miu Hirano and Hitomi Sato facing Liu Shiwen.
Earlier, Wang Yidi had beaten Hong Kong’s Lee Ho Ching, the No 12 seed 11-8, 15-13, 11-9, 11-9 to reach quarters.
Wang Manyu overcame Japan’s Miyu Kato 11-5, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10, while  Sun Yingsha upset Singapore’s Feng Tianwei, the No 3 seed, 5-11, 11-6, 14-12, 11-7, 11-13, 11-4. Both Wang Yidi and Sun Yingsha had to come through qualification stage to play in the main round.
In the all-Japanese match Kasumi Ishikawa, the No 4 seed, had to slug it out before beating qualifier Miyu Nagasaki 11-6, 11-4, 3-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8. While Miu Hirano edged out Hina Hayata 12-10, 13-11, 12-10, 13-11.
Also, as in the lower half of the draw there was an all Chinese clash, Liu Shiwen faced Chen Xingtong, the No 11 seed, in what proved the closest match of the round. Liu Shiwen emerged successful by the very narrowest of margins 12-10, 9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9.
“I’m very happy, I feel I played well; Chen Xingtong plays very fast, she has a good balanced game; physically she is in good shape, she plays very strongly. At 10-6 in the seventh game, she was very aggressive, I just needed one point but she played very consistently and very positively,” said Liu Shiwen. There was hard fought success for Hitomi Sato too, the Japanese beat Cheng I-Ching in five games (11-8, 14-12, 6-11, 11-6, 13-11).
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles Calderano was delighted after beating Germany’s Boll 11-9, 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 12-10 to reach the men’s quarter-finals.
“It was really important to make a good start; the fact I went three-nil ahead was vital. I was aggressive from the start but I knew he would adapt and increase his level of play. He became more positive. At the end of the fifth game I tried to focus on each point and not on the score but of course I knew they were important points,” said Calderano.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting was impressive as the No 7 seed beat Ukrainian qualifier Kou Lei 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4. Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto came back to beat India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in a thriller 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-1, 11-4.
“It was a question of playing from the heart; I changed my service at the start of the sixth game, more backspin. Certainly it was a very tough match, he was very good blocking the ball.” Tomokazu Harimoto
At the quarter-final stage today, Harimoto faces Calderano, Wong Chun Ting takes on China’s Lin Gaoyuan.