[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Day 6 action saw some men’s singles round of 16 matches, the completion of mixed doubles and other events nearing completion.
Japan won its first mixed doubles title in 48 years with Kasumi Ishikawa and Maharu Yoshimura winning gold. Mixed doubles may be another table-tennis event added for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The women’s singles finalists have been decided. World and Olympic Champion Ding Ning of China overcame Japanese sensation Miu Hirano to reach the final to get her revenge from the Asian Championships where Ding Ning had 5 match points and lost. In the other semifinal, China’s Zhu Yuling defeated teammate Liu Shiwen 4-3. When I was training in Chengdu, China in 2007, someone pointed out Zhu Yuling to me when she was small that she was really good. Now she’s in the Worlds women’s singles final 10 years later!
The women’s doubles have reached the semis with 2 Chinese pairs, a Japanese pair, and a Singapore pair. The men’s doubles event has reached the final which will be another China vs Japan clash.
I followed some of the men’s singles round of 16 matches. Legend Vladimir Samsonov lost to Korea’s Lee Sang Su 4-0 and I saw parts of this match and was surprised how weak Samsonov’s short game was. When he pushed short, he was pushing too high or too long and Lee capitalized on it. When Samsonov flipped, he either missed or flipped too soft. Lee’s backhand was really strong as he would win the backhand exchanges with China’s Zhang Jike in the previous round. I thought maybe Zhang Jike’s fan girls affected him again yesterday but Lee was winning backhand exchanges with Samsonov too. The banana flip receive was not popular when Samsonov was a developing player but I’m surprised he has not added it to his game. This could be Samsonov’s last Worlds where he has won 3 medals since he is 41 now. I’m sure he wants an Olympic medal though. Jorgen Persson made the Olympics semis at age 42 so maybe Samsonov still has a chance.
In another interesting match, European Champions Timo Boll of Germany and Marcos Freitas of Portugal faced off. Boll plays for the Dusseldorf club and had the sold out crowd’s support. He has been voted among the top 3 German sportsmen of the year out of all sports 3 different times. When Freitas became European Champion when the Euros took place in Portugal, soccer star Christiano Ronaldo and the President of Portugal were among those to congratulate the Portugal team. It was 1-1 in games and then I think Timo Boll led 6-0 in the 3rd and 4th game but Freitas came back to tie the scores both games. However, Boll won those critical games 15-13 and 11-9 to take a 3-1 lead and then won the 5th game to win the match. It will be interesting to see if Timo Boll can defeat World #1 Ma Long of China in the quarterfinals which they play tomorrow. He will have the home court advantage but Ma Long has lost only once to a non-Chinese player in 3 years. The 13-year old sensation Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan is also in the men’s singles quarterfinals!
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