Cifuentes stuns Jingkun

The ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cup Macao is proving difficult to predict as it brought another wave of strong performances and notable results at the Galaxy Arena, with players continuing to test the form book.

Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes delivered one of the standout wins of the tournament so far, overcoming China’s Liang Jingkun in a tightly contested five-game encounter 5-11, 11-7, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8 in the men’s singles.

Momentum shifted throughout, with Cifuentes moving ahead 9-5 in the deciding game before holding off a late push from Liang to close it out. To those watching, Cifuentes looked composed throughout but he was quick to set the record straight afterwards.

“I’m feeling really happy right now. At first, I didn’t believe I could win, but I felt good during the match. At one moment, I started to think, I can do it, why not? and I just continued fighting until the end. At 9-5, I wasn’t calm at all, my stomach was burning. I just told myself, Horacio, come on, last points. Give your best now, go full in on every ball, and who knows?” said Cifuentes.

Cifuentes recently changed his rubbers at the start of the year and this has set him up well to be playing at the level he exhibited today.

France’s Félix Lebrun settled old scores, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Feng Yi-Hsin 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, avenging his loss at last year’s World Cup where he missed his spot in the main draw by four points. With the tournament returning to the traditional best-of-five format, Lebrun found his footing and didn’t look back.

“I feel really happy. It is always a difficult match against him; he beat me here last year, so I’m glad to get the win this time and move on. Regarding the format change, it was easy to adjust because it’s more traditional. I’m happy to have full matches again — last year every point mattered for the standings, but now it’s about winning the match. I always enjoy being in Macao, China. There isn’t a full house just yet, but I think by the Round of 16 the crowd will really grow. I’ll work hard to reach that stage so I can play in front of them,” said Lebrun.

Meanwhile, reigning champion Hugo Calderano opened his title defence with a straight sets 11-4, 11-5, 11-2 win over Slovenia’s Lubomir Jancarik, setting up a meeting with Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson tomorrow for a spot into the main draw.

“I am very happy to be back. This venue has a special feeling for me and I always enjoy playing here. It was a good first match. My focus has been on arriving in my best shape, and I feel like I’ve been improving since the start of the year. Kristian Karlsson is a very strong player and it will be a tough match. We’ve played many times before, so I know I need to be ready,” said Calderano.

No. 1 seed and the top title contender, China’s Wang Chuqin similarly started his campaign without breaking a sweat defeating Romania’s Eduard Ionescu in straight sets 11-8, 11-7, 11-1.

In the women’s singles. India’s Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula brought contrasting results for the Indian camp today.Batra defeated America’s Lily Zhang in a tight battle starting with Batra leading confidently 2-0 and with two match points in the third set which Zhang saved and launched a come back.

However Batra through wide shots on the table and strategic rally play regained her momentum and claimed her win 11-7, 11-2, 14-16, 5-11, 11-6. Akula, was unable to achieve the same result and was beaten 3-1 (8-11, 11-9, 15-13, 11-8) by Portugal’s Fu Yu.

France’s Charlotte Lutz making her singles World Cup debut this year carried on her strong performance from Day 1 after narrowly losing to China’s Kuai Man and recorded a 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 victory over Amy Wang.

“I knew Amy has a very good game and puts a lot of balls on the table. I prepared for this like I would for any match, and although I had some trouble at the beginning, I managed to find a solution. Once things turned my way, I felt really happy with how I played. This is my first time at the Women’s Singles World Cup and I’m very happy with my performance,” said Lutz .

“It is a very strong tournament and even qualifying for it is difficult. Against Kuai Man yesterday, I was proud to fight back from 0-2 down to reach the fifth game. I was even leading 5-1 in the decider, but as we say, you never lead by enough. Still, I’m pleased with my level and I hope to be back next year. It’s also my first time in Macao, China, so I’m looking forward to the next few days. I haven’t had a chance to look around yet, so I definitely want to see more of the city.”

Hong Kong, China’s Doo Hoi Kem also faced a close call, defeating Poland’s Natalia Bajor 10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6 in their fifth encounter with the match featuring long rallies and the momentum swinging back and forth between the two.

“I’ve played Natalia a couple of times before and the results are always quite similar. Each point tends to involve long rallies and she moved me around a lot. I lost the first set and she had the upper hand early in the second as well. I watched her match against Wang Yidi yesterday. I just stayed patient and worked my way into the decider. I played well in the final set,” said Hoi Kem.

After two days of relentless upsets, the group stage reaches its climax tomorrow with a place in the main draw on the line.