Friday, June 12, 2009
9:59 PM
ITTF Pro Tour Japan Open - Mixed fortunes for Yu Meng Yu
Yang Zi, the no. 15 seed inflicted pain on the host nation, ending the aspirations of Hiromitsu Kasahara. He won 11-8,11-9,7-11,11-7,11-8. In the next round, his opponent will be 2nd seed, Dimitrij Ovtcharov. Yang Zi met the very same player only once on the ITTF Pro Tour. At that time, he lost to him 4-1.

Meanwhile in the Women's Singles Event, seeds fell like boiling pins in the lower half of the draw. 5th Seed Yu Meng Yu was one of the casualty today. At last week’s Harmony China Open, the Singaporean had caused the biggest upset in the opening round by beating third seed, China’s Guo Yan in six games; one week later the boot was on the other foot. She was the injured party in a first round upset. She was beaten in a close seven games encounter by the host nation’s Misako Wakamiya. Misako Wakamiya won 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 11-13, 11-8. Her defeat could be attributed to the fact that she had to play the U21 Girls' Singles Event earlier in the day. That may have caused her fatigue resulting in her fall.

Another player Ma Ming Lu suffered the same fate as well. She lost to Top Seed South Korean Defender Park Mi Young in straight games. Sun Bei Bei is the only women left standing in the event. In the opening round, she beat host nation's Yamamoto Mari 11-9,9-11,11-5,11-7,14-12. She will be awaiting South Korea's Park Young Sook in the 2nd round.

There were further success for Singaporeans in the Men's Doubles and Women's U21 events. 2nd Seeds Yang Zi/Ma Liang ended the hopes of Yuto Muramatsu/Masato Shiono in four straight games. They won by 5 games, 6-11, 11-8, 3-11, 6-11, 8-11. Tomorrow, they will play against Monteiro Joao/Smirnov Alexei. This pair of doubles is made of players from different countries, a Portuguese and a Russian.

On the other hand, Sim Kai Xin Zena/Ma Ming Lu were no match against Japanese Hirano Sayaka/Hiura Reiko. They lost in straight games, 5-11,3-11,2-11,8-11. Top Seed Sun Bei Bei /Yu Meng Yu received a walkover in the opening round. Their first opponent will be South Korea's Kim Jung Hyun/Seok Ha Jung in the Quarter Finals.

In the U21 male event, top seed Ma Liang and Li Zhong Ze both lost to lower ranked opposition. The un-seeded South Korea's Jung Young Sik was in unforgiving mood. He beat Top Seed Ma Liang by the faintest margin of 6-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-9, 7-11. Liu Zhong Ze was also defeated in similar fashion. He lost to host nation's Kasahara Hiromitsu, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 4-11, 5-11.

Yu Meng Yu, the Top Seed in the U21 Girls' Event, was in good form. She fought hard into the finals, defeating Chinese Taipei's Hou Yu-Ling, host nation's Morizono Misaki and Fujii Yuko along the way. In the finals, she will face Misako Wakamiya once again. This is the same lady that defeated Yu Meng Yu in the 1st round of the Women Singles Event.




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