FRANKFURT-AM-MAIN, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) — World No. 1 Fan Zhendong of China advanced to the last 16 of men\’s singles at the 2023 Table Tennis WTT Frankfurt Championships, posting a 3-1 victory over Sweden\’s Truls Moregard on Sunday.
The two had previously met in the 2021 World Championships final, with Fan overwhelming Moregard 4-0. Their electrifying match at Suwag Energy Arena in Frankfurt was a display of free-flowing attacking table tennis from start to finish.
Meeting for the third time, Fan, who held a superior record having won both previous encounters, ended Sunday\’s clash with scores of 12-10, 11-13, 12-10, 11-7.
\”It\’s a tough match as always. The scores were very close in every game like what we did before. He pushed me so hard, and I made some mistakes during the second game. Fortunately, I was trying to overcome the difficulties, and it worked. I made some technical adjustments and kept a good mentality,\” said Fan.
Fan\’s compatriot, Liang Jingkun, also advanced to the round of 16, defeating 20-year-old French talent Alexis Lebrun. Liang recovered from a first-game loss to beat the 2023 European Games bronze winner 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10).
Meanwhile, world No. 2 Wang Chuqin defeated Kao Cheng Jui from Chinese Taipei with a straight-set win of 11-6, 11-7, 11-5.
\”Kao is a very passionate player and has made a lot of progress recently. Last time we played, I did not know about him so much and was through ups-and-downs. I\’m well-prepared this time and remained calm when he made some excellent attacks. I just need to do what I normally did,\” said the 23-year-old Wang.
In the women\’s draw, Chen Meng swept past Suthasini Sawettabut of Thailand 11-4, 11-4, 11-5.
\”I have not played against Suthasini for a long time. I was doing a good job today and took control of the match from the very beginning. I think I\’m in pretty good shape now and will play better in the coming round,\” said Chen.
The Frankfurt event continues on Monday when the women\’s singles world No. 1 Sun Yingsha faces Jeon Jihee from South Korea, and Wang Manyu matches up against three-time Olympian Elizabeta Samara from Romania.