Taiwanese table tennis ace Lin Yun-ju on Wednesday handily downed Sweden’s Jon Persson 4-0 to advance to the round-of-32 at the World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Houston, Texas.
World No. 6 Lin, who had a bye to automatically advance to the second round, defeated the 35-year-old Swede 11-5, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Lin was yesterday to play South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon.
Compatriot and fellow Olympic veteran Chuang Chih-yuan crashed out after losing to Sweden’s Truls Moregard. Moregard, who is more than half Chuang’s age at 19, downed the 40-year-old world No. 25 4-3 in a competitive seven games of 10-12, 12-10, 11-5, 11-7, 3-11, 3-11, 11-8.
Photo: AP
In the women’s singles, world No. 8 Cheng I-ching beat England’s Tin-Tin Ho 4-0 to advance to the round-of-32, where Cheng was yesterday to play Amy Wang of the US.
Taiwan’s Liu Hsing-yin and Chen Szu-yu also advanced after beating world No. 33 Elizabeta Samara 4-0 and Hong Kong’s Lee Ho Ching 4-3 respectively.
Cheng Hsien-tzu and Li Yu-jhun crashed out after losing to Ukraine’s Margaryta Pesotska and Singapore’s Feng Tianwei respectively.
Photo: Erik Williams-USA TODAY
In the men’s doubles, Feng Yi-hsin and Huang Yan-cheng were yesterday to play fellow Taiwanese Chen Chien-an and Chuang Chih-yuan after Feng and Huang beat Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez and Brian Afanador 3-0.
The world No. 8 duo of Chen Chien-an and Chuang earned a bye through the first round.
In the women’s doubles, the world No. 39 pairing of Cheng Hsien-tzu and Liu along with the duo of Chen Szu-yu and Li both earned a bye to advance to yesterday’s round, when they were to play Luxembourg’s Sarah De Nutte and Xia Lian Ni, and Japan’s Mima Ito and Hina Hayata respectively.
In the mixed doubles, the world No. 2 Taiwanese duo of Cheng I-ching and Lin, who won Taiwan a silver medal at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, were yesterday to play the Swedish pairing of Moregard and Christina Kallberg.
The world No. 58 Taiwanese duo of Chen Szu-yu and Chen Chien-an, who on Tuesday devastated Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut and Padasak Tanviriyavechakul 3-0, were yesterday to face off against South Korea’s world No. 14 pairing of Jang Woo-jin and Jeon Ji-hee.
Jemimah Rodrigues on Thursday hit an unbeaten 127 as India pulled off a record chase of 339 against Australia to set up a Women’s World Cup final against South Africa. Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 89, put on 167 runs for the third wicket as India won with nine balls and five wickets to spare at DY Patil Stadium, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The hosts finished on a total of 341-5 in reply to Australia’s impressive 338 and ensured there would be a new name on the 50-over trophy tomorrow. Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations
Jannik Sinner on Thursday eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital would return Sinner to No. 1 in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the
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