Top seed Tomokazu Harimoto beat Dimitrij Ovtcharov in an intense semi-final to seal his berth in the final of the WTT Star Contender tournament at the Losail Sports Arena on Friday.
In a repeat of last week’s semi-final at WTT Contender Doha, where the 32-year-old Ovtcharov got the better of the 17-year-old sensation, yesterday’s match delivered the promise of another scintillating table tennis spectacle with little to separate the two.
But the Harimoto seemed much sharper on the day as the Japanese sealed a 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7 win over the sixth Ovtcharov of Germany. Harimoto has been in swashbuckling form all-week, steamrolling past his rivals. But against Ovtcharov, he had to find an extra gear after dropping the first game.
In the title clash today, Harimoto will take on German qualifier Ruwen Filus, who beat Darko Jorgic 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7 in another semi-final. Jorgic, who had caused a major upset when he sent second seed Hugo Calderano packing in the round of 16, was in the match till the fourth game before Filus raised his game to seal his placed in the final.
It will be a tough task against Harimoto for Filus, who has nonetheless accounted for higher ranked opponents – No.3 seed Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju, South Korea’s fifth seed Jang Woojin and Japan’s Jun Mizutani, no.11 seed.
The women’s singles final will pit top seed Mima Ito against Singapore’s Feng Tianwei. The in-form Ito beat South Korea's Jeon Ji-hee 11-5, 17-15, 9-11, 11-5, 15-13 in the semi-final and is looking to capture back-to-back titles after winning last week's WTT Contender Doha. The Japanese has dropped only two games throughout this tournament.
Tianwei, meanwhile, made it to her first final in almost four years after the 34-year-old blanked Romania's Elizabeta Samara 11-8, 11-4, 11-3, 11-5. Tianwei’s last final was at the 2017 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Korea Open, which she won after beating Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa.
"I haven't made it to the final in quite a few years so I'm definitely happy to have found a breakthrough today. But it doesn't stop here, I need to continue working hard and there are still many things for me to learn," Tianwei said yesterday.
The world No. 12 beat Samara, ranked 34th, with relative ease to set up a title decider against world No. in the US$400,000 event. In their head-to-head meetings, the 20-year-old Ito has a 6-2 lead over Feng and the last time the two met was in 2016 at the ITTF Asian Cup in Dubai.
Since then, Ito has had the upperhand, with their most recent meeting at the 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open in Doha ending 4-2. But Feng remained unfazed, saying: "I'm just going to go all out and try to play to the best of my abilities."
Feng admitted that there were still nerves despite her being untroubled for most of the match, but was glad that she was able to perform against the southpaw. She said: "I was well prepared for this match and although it seemed like there was little to worry about from the scoreline, mentally there were still some nerves."
In a repeat of last week’s semi-final at WTT Contender Doha, where the 32-year-old Ovtcharov got the better of the 17-year-old sensation, yesterday’s match delivered the promise of another scintillating table tennis spectacle with little to separate the two.
But the Harimoto seemed much sharper on the day as the Japanese sealed a 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7 win over the sixth Ovtcharov of Germany. Harimoto has been in swashbuckling form all-week, steamrolling past his rivals. But against Ovtcharov, he had to find an extra gear after dropping the first game.
In the title clash today, Harimoto will take on German qualifier Ruwen Filus, who beat Darko Jorgic 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7 in another semi-final. Jorgic, who had caused a major upset when he sent second seed Hugo Calderano packing in the round of 16, was in the match till the fourth game before Filus raised his game to seal his placed in the final.
It will be a tough task against Harimoto for Filus, who has nonetheless accounted for higher ranked opponents – No.3 seed Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju, South Korea’s fifth seed Jang Woojin and Japan’s Jun Mizutani, no.11 seed.
The women’s singles final will pit top seed Mima Ito against Singapore’s Feng Tianwei. The in-form Ito beat South Korea's Jeon Ji-hee 11-5, 17-15, 9-11, 11-5, 15-13 in the semi-final and is looking to capture back-to-back titles after winning last week's WTT Contender Doha. The Japanese has dropped only two games throughout this tournament.
Tianwei, meanwhile, made it to her first final in almost four years after the 34-year-old blanked Romania's Elizabeta Samara 11-8, 11-4, 11-3, 11-5. Tianwei’s last final was at the 2017 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Korea Open, which she won after beating Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa.
"I haven't made it to the final in quite a few years so I'm definitely happy to have found a breakthrough today. But it doesn't stop here, I need to continue working hard and there are still many things for me to learn," Tianwei said yesterday.
The world No. 12 beat Samara, ranked 34th, with relative ease to set up a title decider against world No. in the US$400,000 event. In their head-to-head meetings, the 20-year-old Ito has a 6-2 lead over Feng and the last time the two met was in 2016 at the ITTF Asian Cup in Dubai.
Since then, Ito has had the upperhand, with their most recent meeting at the 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open in Doha ending 4-2. But Feng remained unfazed, saying: "I'm just going to go all out and try to play to the best of my abilities."
Feng admitted that there were still nerves despite her being untroubled for most of the match, but was glad that she was able to perform against the southpaw. She said: "I was well prepared for this match and although it seemed like there was little to worry about from the scoreline, mentally there were still some nerves."