Defending champion Shidong leads the charge into quarters

WTT Champions Macao has trimmed the field to 16. Now the real knife-edge begins, and there’s no room to breathe, let alone blink.

The 2024 edition’s defending champion Lin Shidong wasted zero time (11–5, 11–4, 11–4) over Kao Cheng-Jui—a clinical three-game shutout that looked exactly like a champion opening the throttle.

The World No.1 now stares down Oh Junsung in the Round of 16 after the Korean edged Shunsuke Togami 3–2 (15-13, 2-11, 15-13, 9-11, 11-9).

Then, in a match that swerved from crisis to catharsis, Satsuki Odo flipped a two-game deficit into a five-game win over Shin Yubin (9–11, 9–11, 11–9, 12–10, 11–9), dragging the tempo into deep water and refusing to let go. Next? An all-Japanese test against Miwa Harimoto.

Breakthroughs matters in Macao, and Thibault Poret delivered one in straight games over Lee Sang Su (12–10, 11–9, 11–9) all decided on the thinnest of margins.

His reward is a Round of 16 clash with Benedikt Duda, who came through 3–1 (11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4) against Tomislav Pucar.

Meanwhile, Bruna Takahashi shrugged off a slow start to roll past Yuan Jia Nan 3–1 (11–13, 11–7, 13–11, 11–7), punching a ticket to a marquee Round of 16 meeting with hometown hero Zhu Yuling, who beat the Brazilian 3–1 the last time they met in the Round of 16 in Ljubljana.

Dang Qiu turned the page on his Yokohama loss to Kanak Jha with a controlled 3–0 (11–8, 11–6, 11–6) in Macao, setting up a blockbuster Round of 16 against Hugo Calderano—a rivalry Qiu currently leads 3–1 on the WTT stage. Momentum swung like a pendulum in Patrick Franziska vs Xiang Peng—five games, a wild 1–11 in the fourth, and a clutch German close (12–10) to win it 3–2 (10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 1-11, 12-10). Next up: Quadri Aruna in their first WTT meeting.

And the World No.1 in Women’s Singles did what World No.1s do: Sun Yingsha tamed wildcard Anna Hursey 3–1 (11–7, 10–12, 11–3, 11–4) in a match that showed both Sun’s authority and Hursey’s bite. Sun now meets Bernadette Szocs, fresh from a 3–1 win over Hana Goda.