SINGAPORE – Against the odds, Koen Pang and Izaac Quek took the first game against Singapore Smash men’s doubles defending champions Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin and briefly threatened an upset on March 14.
However, in front of 500 fans in the jam-packed OCBC Arena Hall 2, the rankings and form book prevailed as Chinese world No. 1 came back to beat the 16th-ranked Singaporeans 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4). They will face Swedes Mattias Falck and Anton Kallberg in the semi-finals.
Fan, 27, praised the young duo and said: “Our opponents performed better in the first game when my shot quality wasn’t that high and they were a big threat in their counter-attacks which had a very high success rate.
“But we adjusted in the following games and adapted better with our variation in terms of our combination and shot trajectory.
“We have played against them a few times now and note their improvement and breakthrough in their doubles play. We prepared well and so we are able to remain calm when we face difficulty against them.”
With both teams featuring a right-hander (Fan and Quek) and a southpaw (Wang and Pang), it made for a fascinating match-up.
The home duo delighted the raucous crowd with an aggressive approach despite facing more illustrious rivals.
They had a clear tactic to attack and win points early, but could not sustain their level and became the last Singaporeans to exit the US$1.5 million (S$2 million) tournament with a cheque for US$3,500.
Pang, 21, said: “The first few ball attacks were key because we won’t be able to match them in the rallies most of the time. We managed to take the initiative in the first game, and we played better this time than in our previous matches against them.
“But we have to improve more on our rallies because against such top players, it won’t be easy to kill them so fast.”
Quek, 17, who is in the WTT Youth Star Contender Singapore Under-19 boys’ singles event, added: “We performed well, but our opponents were much better in terms of their technique and shot quality.
“The vibrant atmosphere helped to elevate the game and we definitely enjoyed it and look forward to playing again in front of such a crowd.”
World No. 2 Wang returned in the evening to outplay Sweden’s 14th-ranked Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-6). He then partnered Sun Yingsha to beat Taiwanese world No. 5 Lin Yun-ju and Chen Szu-yu 3-0 (15-13, 17-15, 11-5).
The defending champions face South Korea’s third-ranked Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin in the mixed doubles final on March 15.
Wang, 23, said: “It’s been a long day. Our straight-game mixed doubles win felt longer than other matches that went to the wire. We faced a stronger Singapore pair in the men’s doubles, with Koen finding the target consistently, but we kept a good mentality and adjusted well.”
In the men’s singles quarter-finals, former world No. 1 Timo Boll, 43, rolled back the years with a 3-1 (11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 12-10) win over 18-year-old Chinese Lin Shidong, who eliminated defending champion Fan on March 12.
The German will face another Chinese in world No. 5 Liang Jingkun, who beat Japan’s ninth-ranked Tomokazu Harimoto 3-2 (9-11, 12-14, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8).
There was another stunning quarter-final comeback in the women’s singles, with world No. 12 Mima Ito three points away from elimination before bouncing back to beat compatriot and 18th-ranked Miu Hirano 3-2 (11-8, 10-12, 7-11, 16-14, 11-1).
China’s top three players Sun, Chen Meng and Wang Manyu are also through to the last eight. Wang faces Ito for a semi-final berth.
In the women’s doubles quarter-finals, the unranked South Korean Joo Cheon-hui and Japan’s Miyuu Kihara stunned South Korea’s world No. 1 and Asian Games champions Jeon Ji-hee and Shin 3-1 (11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7).
They will next play Taiwanese world No. 5s Li Yu-jhun and Cheng I-ching. The other semi-final is between China’s Chen and Wang, and Luxembourg’s 60-year-old Ni Xialian and Sarah de Nutte.
