WOMEN’S SINGLES: JOY FOR JAPAN
Boasting the top two seeds in Hong Kong, Kasumi ISHIKAWA and Mima ITO, Japan’s hopes of winning Women’s Singles gold have been boosted by their dominant displays to date. ISHIKAWA brushed aside ZHANG Mo (CAN) (11-5, 11-5, 11-8, 12-10) as ITO impressed in her victory over YU Mengyu (SGP) (11-5, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7).
There will be as many as five Japanese women competing in the round of 16, after Miu HIRANO, Hitomi SATO and Saki SHIBATA also passed their tests on Thursday. SATO and SHIBATA will meet for a place in the quarter-final less than two weeks after their epic seven-game showdown at the 2019 ITTF Challenge, Thailand Open.
DOO Hoi Kem (HKG) remains the host nation’s only hope of glory in the Women’s Singles. The no.6 seed saw off Sarah DE NUTTE (LUX) in just four games (12-10, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6).
Europe’s trio of seeded women’s players are also aiming to continue their journey, as Bernadette SZOCS (ROU), Sofia POLCANOVA (AUT) and SHAN Xiaona (GER) get set to take on SUH Hyowon (KOR), DOO Hoi Kem and FENG Tianwei (SGP) respectively.