Mapusa (Goa), Jan 27 – The World No.7 Hugo Calderano and World No.8 Shin Yubin continued their sparkling form to reach the singles semifinals of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender Goa 2024, while India’s Sreeja Akula faced defeat in the quarterfinals at the Peddem Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
The highest-ranked player in the tournament, Calderano made a positive start to the men’s singles quarterfinal match against Sweden’s Anton Kallberg and won the first game.
Kallberg clinched the second game in a bid to make a comeback in the match. However, the Brazilian paddler looked in complete control in the rest of the games and won the contest by 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4) to move into the semis.
The top seed in the women’s singles Yubin of Korea Republic, on the other hand, faced tough competition from her compatriot Jeon Jihee in the first game before comfortably winning the match by 3-0 (14-12, 11-8, 11-5).
Meanwhile, young Indian paddler Sreeja’s impressive run in the tournament came to an end with a 3-1 (11-5, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4) defeat against the World No. 18 Cheng I-ching of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles quarterfinals.
Earlier in the women’s singles Last-16 matches, India’s top-ranked singles paddler Manika (WR 38) went down fighting 1-3 (11-9, 11-13, 7-11, 9-11) against World No. 13 Xiaoxin Yang of Monaco. Archana Kamath also lost to Korea Republic’s Jeon Jihee by 1-3 (11-13, 11-9, 6-11, 4-11).
The World No. 8 Felix Lebrun of France registered a comfortable 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 12-10) victory against World No. 14 Quadri Aruna of Nigeria, while six-time Olympics medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov (WR12) of Germany beat compatriot Dang Qiu 3-2 (6-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4) in a tight contest to enter the men’s singles semis.
Korea Republic pair Lim Jonghoon and An Jaehyun won the men’s doubles title after beating Patrick Franziska and Dang Qiu 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-7) in straight games in the final. The women’s doubles title went to Jeon Jihee and Shin Yubin of the Korea Republic, who defeated compatriots Choi Hyojoo and Joo Cheonhui by 3-1 (11-4, 11-4, 15-17, 11-6) in the final.
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