Similarly, Sweden’s Mattias Falck reached the levels displayed at the Liebherr 2019 World Championships, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-Ju excelled; China’s Fan Zhendong extracted revenge.

Meanwhile, China’s Zhu Yuling, who in recent times has not been blessed with success, returned to winning ways; colleague Ding Ning asserted her authority, Singapore’s Feng Tianwei revelled in the short game format.

Men’s Singles: Round One

…………Patrick Franziska provided the performance of the day; level after four games, he excelled in the five point scenario to beat China’s Liang Jingkun (11-10, 4-11, 11-8, 7-11, 5-1, 5-3).

…………Mattias Falck thwarted a possible recovery by Japan’s Koki Niwa (11-8, 11-8, 11-10, 10-11, 2-5, 5-3).

…………Fan Zhendong turned the tables; he beat Brazil’s Hugo Calderano (11-8, 11-10, 11-6, 5-2); the player against whom he had experienced defeat at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals.

…………Lin Yun-Ju showed his class; he accounted for Japan’s Jun Mizutani in straight games (11-9, 11-10, 11-7, 11-8).

Men’s Singles: Quarter-Finals

…………Top half: Ma Long v Lin Yun-Ju, Patrick Franziska v Wong Chun Ting

…………Lower half: Xu Xin v Mattias Falck, Fan Zhendong v Lin Gaoyuan

Women’s Singles: Round One

…………Han Ying proved too secure for Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching (11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 5-2, 5-2).

…………Feng Tianwei recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat Japan’s Miu Hirano (8-11, 9-11, 11-10, 5-4, 5-3, 5-4).

…………Ding Ning ended the hopes of Romania’s Bernadette Szocs (5-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-2, 5-2).

…………Zhu Yuling proved the model of consistency; she accounted for Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa (11-6, 11-7, 11-0, 7-11, 11-8).

Women’s Singles: Quarter-Finals

…………Top half: Wang Manyu v Han Ying, Feng Tianwei v Ding Ning

…………Lower half: Zhu Yuling v Sun Yingsha, Miyu Kato v Chen Meng