The competition in Changchun got heated up in the Singles event as challengers fought their way through the round. Obviously seeded players were tested and the reigning world champion Zhang Jike was one of the victims. He failed to progress into the next round of the competition after withdrawing in the middle of the match against Fan Zhendong.
ITTF. The 2013 China Open Singles competition continued with their Round 16 today, June 15 and obviously intensity has increased as challengers got even braver. A lot were tested but it was Zhang Jike who wasn't able to surpass it victoriously.
The Grand Slam champion Zhang Jike was surprising in the recently concluded World Championships as he swept the youngest teammate Fan Zhendong. Today, Zhang Jike was not in good form in Changchun against the same opponent. He opened the match with a win but in the successive sets, Zhang Jike struggled.
After levelling in 2-2, Zhang Jike withdrew from the competition due to injury, giving Fan Zhendong a seat in the quarterfinals.
While Zhang Jike gave an almost free round to Fan Zhendong, the top seed Xu Xin advances into the next round with a walk over from Patrick Franziska. As partners in the Men's Doubles, they also withdrew from the event this morning.
Ma Long and Wang Hao were two of the seeded players who went through a challenging match. The second seed was stretched into the sixth set by Alexey Liventsov before achieving a 4-2 win, 11-3, 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5. Against another Russian, Grigory Vlasov, Wang Hao had to go through a full stretch match before securing a place in the quarterfinals, 6-11, 11-9, 14-12, 11-4, 8-11, 4-11, 11-7.
Among the Chinese players, it was only Yan An who survived with a 4-0 win. He swept Yang Zi in 11-9, 11-5, 11-6, 11-3.
The Germans were not spared from the difficulty as well. Timo Boll was caught off guard by Andrej Gacina who stole the opening set. Timo Boll scored 4-2, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7. Dimitrij Ovtcharov also scored 4-2 against Tan Ruiwu, 11-6, 11-4, 11-13, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8.
After two Russians failed in the competition, Alexey Smirnov uphold their team and made the Singaporean Gao Ning as the other casualty in the round. Smirnov scored 4-1, 11-8, 11-7, 10-12, 12-10, 11-4.
The Round 16 of the Women's Singles didn't take so long to finish as most of the matches only lasted in four sets. Leading names are the hosts Ding Ning,Liu Shiwen, Li Xiaoxia, Guo Yue and Feng Yalan.
However, among the Chinese Women's Team, it was the veteran Guo Yan who was severely challenged. Against the South Korean, Jeon Ji Hee, Guo Yan was stretched into the decider. But at the end, it was the experienced Guo Yan who stood victorious in 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5, 2-11, 8-11, 11-5.
The only non-Chinese players who surpassed the round are Seok Ha Jung of South Korea and Feng Tianwei of Singapore.
