Top seed Lin Shidong needed five games to get past Benedikt Duda, as the German put in a spirited performance at Lusail Sports Arena before bowing out 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6 in the Last 16 of the WTT Champions Doha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pair were neck and neck in the first game and shared the opening 16 points before Duda scored three consecutive winners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shidong and Duda came out swinging in the second game, and the opening proceedings were an even affair, with the best point going to Duda. After a rally where the two were firing rockets at each other, it looked like Shidong had won it when he fired a cross-table shot that looked out of reach. But the 1.88m Duda lept to his left and sent the ball spinning past his opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World No.2 Shidong had to adjust if he was going to take the second game, and he did just that and found a rhythm where he was able to score five in a row. Shidong \u2019s new approach? Setting up powerful forearm strokes that he could hit right on the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shidong looked to be in the ascendancy when he took the third game and was leading the fourth 5-3. But Duda came back, scoring eight of the next nine points to set up the decider.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Duda went 0-2 and 2-3 up in the final game as he looked to pull off the upset of the event, but Shidong had other thoughts and went on a rampage, hitting six in a row before taking it 11-6.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n