Shi Xunyao and Huang Youzheng win the mixed doubles (Photo WTT)
Defending champion Honoka Hashimoto’s bid to go back-to-back at WTT Contender Taiyuan has fallen short, after she was comprehensively beaten 3-11, 3-11, 2-11 Satsuki Odo in women’s singles semi-finals.
Hashimoto was flying through the playing field in the lead up to the semifinal, navigating her first three matches without dropping a single game, but she was outclassed at the penultimate hurdle.
Odo, could count herself fortunate to find herself in the last four, having been taken the full distance one round earlier by Sakura Yokoi before winning 12-10, 11-8, 11-13, 10-12, 11-6. But Odo looked a completely different player in the last four, needing just 18 minutes to break down Hashimoto’s defensive wall.
Standing between Odo and the women’s singles crown is another Japanese defender, Hitomi Sato, who banked her ticket to the final with an impressive 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 victory over No.2 seed Shi Xunyao.
While Xunyao saw her singles hopes shatter, she did lay claim to the first title of the week, joining forces with Huang Youzheng to beat top seeds Doo Hoi Kem-Wong Chun Ting 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7 in the mixed doubles final.
In the men’s singles draw, qualifier Maharu Yoshimura extended his magnificent run to storm into the final in Taiyuan.
Yoshimura didn’t just overcome No.4 seed Yukiya Uda 12-10, 2-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, but followed up with a come from behind win over the player seeded just below Uda, fighting back to see off Tomislav Pucar 3-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 in the semi-finals.
