News feed from ITTF

China’s Li Xiaoxia the number two seed and Liu Shiwen, the number twelve seed both suffered unexpected defeats in the second round of the Women’s Singles event at the Volkswagen Open Korea in Daejeon on Friday 30th May 2008.

Li Xiaoxia was beaten in seven games by compatriot Fan Ying, whilst Liu Shiwen suffered in six games in opposition to Thailand’s Nanthana Komwong.

Liu Shiwen currently appears at no. 15 on the ITTF Women’s World Rankings whilst Li Xiaoxia is at no. 3; by comparison Fan Ying is ranked no. 33 and Nanthana Komwong no. 80.

Defeat for two star names but not for Guo Yue seeded one, Wang Nan seeded three and Guo Yan, seeded four; all enjoyed safe passages to round three.

Meanwhile, in the Men’s Singles event the most notable casualty was the host nation’s Oh Sang Eun; the defending champion, he was beaten in seven games in round two by Hong Kong’s Cheung Yuk.

On the May 2008 ITTF Men’s World Ranking list, Oh Sang Eun appears at no. 9 whilst Cheung Yuk is at no. 35.

However, for the top four seeded men, all from China there were no travails. Wang Hao, Ma Lin, Wang Liqin and Ma Long all progressed without alarm.

Similarly in the doubles events the leading lights negotiated the opening round safely.

Top seeds in the Men’s Doubles competition, Wang Hao and Wang Liqin duly reached the quarter-finals as did second seeds Ma Lin and Ma Long, whilst in the Women’s Doubles event there was joy for the host nation.

Seeded one, Korea’s Kim Kyung Ah and Park Mi Young reached the round of the last eight pairs as did second seeds, Japan’s Ai Fukuhara and Sayaka Hirano.