FRANKFURT: Bernadette Szocs, Lee Sang-su, and Lim Jong-hoon celebrated victories against Chinese table tennis stars Chen Meng, Fan Zhendong, and Liang Jingkun at the 2023 WTT Champions Frankfurt.
World No. 12 women’s singles player Bernadette Szocs of Romania completed an upset win over second seed Chen Meng, edging past the Olympic champion in five tight games 4-11, 11-8, 13-11, 5-11, 12-10 to reserve her ticket to the quarterfinals.
Szocs’ astonishing win over Chen at the 2022 WTT Champions Macao did not make her the favorite to take another victory on Wednesday. However, the European Games winner appeared more comfortable and confident at the table, ramping up the pressure on the world No. 2. Current world No. 1 Sun Yingsha took a straight-set win over 19-year-old French talent Prithika Pavade 11-9, 11-3, 15-13 to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
As for the men’s singles action, Lim Jong-hoon of South Korea became the first player to take down a seeded entry in the discipline, knocking out fifth seed Liang Jingkun with a masterful display over four games 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9. Lim’s countryman, Lee Sang-su overturned top seed and title favorite Fan Zhendong 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 13-11. It’s Lee’s first win over the Chinese world champion among their 15 encounters, while Fan suffered his earliest exit from a WTT Champions stage. Fan’s compatriot Wang Chuqin saw off Liam Pitchford of England 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9. IANS
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