Paul White62 said:Lin Yun knocked out Ma Long, so thank god we don't have to deal with that annoying crowd that just screams for Ma Long all night long😁. It’s also kind of hilarious watching them try to do these big victory interviews with Lin Yun in English when the kid clearly doesn't understand a single word they're saying.
Man, Ma Long is looking more vulnerable by the day.
It looks like Harimoto is still struggling to find his groove this season. He just doesn't seem to have that same spark he had last year, especially after dropping another match where everyone expected him to walk away with an easy win against Jonghoon.
So, we’ve officially kicked off another one of those big-ticket tournaments on the circuit where you can actually expect to see all the heavy hitters showing up.
Paul White62 said:It’s such a blast watching these two when they both finally find their groove...
Ma Long totally blew his lead in the second set. If he doesn't lock in for this third one, it might be game over.
Man, I don't know. He had him on the ropes in the second and fourth sets, but he just couldn't close it out both times. Now Zhendong is up 3-1, and honestly? It's gonna be a massive uphill battle to turn this thing around.
Zhendong cruised through Chuqin way easier than I thought he would. Honestly, that backhand was looking absolutely lethal—definitely felt like some serious payback for losing that championship final last season. Tomorrow we’ll probably get that classic showdown against Ma Long, assuming Calderano doesn't pull off the match of his life first.
Sun absolutely crushed Wang Many, didn't even break a sweat 😲 She’s facing another Chinese player tomorrow, though the level won't be quite what we saw today. Honestly, anything less than an easy win would probably catch me off guard.
I’m thinking the men’s semifinals might actually be more interesting, especially that first one.
Man, I can't believe it—Korejka Joo actually managed to pull off the upset against Sun Yingsh, the absolute top seed and basically the best player on the planet right now. She dragged her all the way to a seventh set. Talk about pure chaos! 🍿
So, Harimoto really didn't pull it out of the bag this time after that rough start. Arun basically played him like a fiddle, which was honestly pretty wild to watch. It was just such a weird tournament for the guy—he definitely wasn't looking even remotely like the player we saw at the end of last season.
Paul White62 said:Both brothers are solid, even if the older one ended up falling behind Arun, but hey, at least they’re teaming up for doubles.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Ma Long, but man, the guy just won't stop screaming after every single point he grabs. He was actually down two sets to zero before he managed to rally back and sweep the Frenchman Akkuz.
It’s honestly kind of wild—I bet even the Chinese players find all that shouting after every point pretty grating, unless, you know, luck is finally on his side. 🤣 Tomorrow quarterfinal should have some decent matchups, though I have a hunch the heavy hitters might struggle a bit; looking at that top trio from China, I’m mostly expecting them to cruise through just like they did today.
The women's bracket is way more interesting right now since four of the top eight are already out. Sun Yingsh is the massive favorite, but if things go according to plan, she might run into some serious trouble against Wang Many in the semifinals.
That little phenom Patrick Mahomes is just getting better and better by the day. He cruised through his match against Coco Gauff this morning without breaking much of a sweat.
Man, Wang is just on another level. I mean, Harimoto managed to take him down in the semifinals during the World Team Championships, which was wild, but who knows if that little Chinese guy can actually clear this next hurdle tomorrow? Maybe he can, maybe not. We'll see.
Honestly, Meng just absolutely dismantled Manya today. I don't know, I was totally expecting a much tighter match than that, maybe even a toss-up. Either way, we've got two absolute treats lined up for tomorrow.
Dimitrij Ovtcharov put on an absolute clinic there, totally taking down Fan Zhendong to punch his ticket into the semifinals. Now he’s set up to face Harimoto, who basically treated his match against Dang Qiu like a warmup. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this second quarterfinal bracket shakes out.
Jorgic managed to snatch the first set and was sitting pretty at 8/4 in the second, but I guess that just ended up lighting a fire under Ma Long instead.
Wang played out of his mind there. Even though things got super sketchy in those final sets against Ma Long and Zhendong Fan, he honestly looked like the better player for most of the match. That forehand is just absolute carnage, seriously. I guess we're all just counting down the days until the heavy hitters take the stage next weekend.
That Romanian player and Mima Ito were looking pretty dangerous, but she ended up dropping it in the 5th set this time. Honestly, just an incredible match between Wang and Ma Long—I guess youth finally caught up to them in the end.
Semifinals start at 1 PM Fan vs Lin Wang vs Moregard