Frankfurt, Nov 6 (UNI) German Olympic medalist Dimitrij Ovtcharov was stunned by Englishman Liam Pitchford 3-0 in the men’s singles round of 32 here at WTT Champions Frankfurt.
Having lost out to Ovtcharov in six of their seven previous encounters, Pitchford knew the odds were stacked against him heading into their eighth showdown. But he looked inspired at the table, hitting through the ball with real venom as he sent a serious message of intent to his opponent right from game one on Tuesday.
The former World No. 1 would have his chances in game two, holding four game points. However, lionhearted Pitchford showed real courage, refusing to back down in the face of pressure.
The Englishman followed up with another stellar effort in the third to bring home a huge win 11-9, 13-11, 11-9.
Elsewhere in men’s singles, WTT Muscat title winner Lin Shidong, China’s rising star, defeated Swedish player Mattias Falck in their opening round clash 11-7, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7.
In the women’s singles draw, wildcard entry Annett Kaufmann of Germany surprised China’s Qian Tianyi with the first game lead. But Qian staged strong response in the following games to secure the round of 16 ticket 5-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-9.
Frankfurt defending champion Wang Yidi overwhelmed Huang Yi-Hua from Chinese Taipei 3-0 and 26-year-old He Zhuojia outplayed 16-year-old Egyptian Hana Goda 3-1.
