Japanese teen Mima Ito created a sensation when she beat China’s Ding Ning in the semi-finals of the 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open in Doha. In the final today at the Aspire Dome, Ito will take on world number one and top seed Chen Meng, who beat defending champion Wang Manyu.
Ito’s win came in four straight games, the 19-year-old prevailing 11-6, 14-12, 11-0, 11-5, incredibly not losing a point in the third.
Ding is a player who has won every major title the sport has to offer. A three-time world champion, she also won the singles gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Although the result was technically not an upset as Ito is seeded third while Ding was sixth, it still will be considered worthy of a special mention considering the Chinese player’s vast experience and superstar status. Ito later won the mixed doubles title, partnering Jun Mizutani. The top seeded Japanese players defeated China’s Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in a gripping four games duel 11-8, 7-11, 11-4, 15-13.
Chen, three times a world champion, earned a 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-13, 11-5, 11-4 victory against fellow Chinese Manyu.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, England’s Liam Pitchford, semi-finalist last month in Budapest, has backed it up with another guaranteed top-four finish.
Yesterday, at the quarter-final stage, he beat Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan, in four straight games (14-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7).
Arguably a surprise feature in the quarter-finals, Chuang Chih-Yuan, required to qualify, beat Japanese teenager Tokomazu Harimoto and Yukiya Uda on his way to the last eight.  In their previous encounter at the 2019 Bulgaria Open it was Chuang who struck victory in a seven-game thriller, but this time the scores were much more decisive and in Pitchford’s favour.
The result means Pitchford becomes the first English player to reach the men’s singles semi-finals at an ITTF World Tour Platinum event. It’s also his third semi-final on the World Tour, having reached the last four at the 2018 Czech Open and 2018 Austrian Open.
Pitchford’s straight games victory over Chuang comes off the back of two excellent performances from the Englishman in his opening two fixtures, taking down Spain’s Alvaro Robles (11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9) and Belarusian legend Vladimir Samsonov (11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 12-10, 8-11, 18-16).
Pitchford is now looking to make a career-first ITTF World Tour men’s singles final but first must overcome a mighty challenge. Placed in the lower half of the draw, Pitchford’s next opponent is none other than world No 1, Xu Xin.