Frankfurt, 9 November. China's rising star Lin Shidong advanced to the semi-finals with a 3-1 win over Japan's Sora Matsushima at the WTT Champions Frankfurt on Friday.
Lin got off to a great start in the quarterfinals, dominating the first game 11–2. However, the match took a sudden turn as Matsushima came back in the second game to surprise Lin by defeating him 11–8.
Despite this setback, Lin quickly regained control and won the next two games, 11–7 and 11–9, to prevent Matsushima from advancing further.
After the match, Lin said, “He (Matsushima) served very well. It was not easy to win the match, I was not completely in the game during the first game. So he won it quickly. When I was leading 5-1 in the second game, I couldn't manage well. I played with a very clear strategy in the next two games.”
Reigning champion Wang Yidi of Frankfurt continued her strong performance at the Suwang Energy Arena, ending South Korea's Shin Yubin's hopes of reaching the women's singles quarter-finals with a score of 11-8, 11-7, 11-8. Recorded a spectacular victory.
Top seed Wang Manyu ousted her compatriot Qian Tianyi from the women's singles event with a straight games win of 11-6, 11-8, 12-10.
Meanwhile, Japan's talented 16-year-old Miwa Harimoto avenged her previous defeat to China's Zuojia. After going down 3-0 to Hee at the China Smash 2024, Harimoto bounced back to win 11-6, 11-9, 6-11 and 11-6 to reach the semi-finals.