Big matches coming today as the tournament enters its last stage
Men's Singles Last 16
LIN Gaoyuan - XU Xin : I think LIN will win it, he's not been that impressive in this tournament from what i hear (not seen his match) but they know each other very well, LIN was very good in Marvelous12, and the pressure is on XU Xin. 4-2 for LIN.
OVTCHAROV - NIWA : We have the European champ and crowd favourite vs Poker Face Niwa. Niwa is very unpredictable and always under-rated because of his strange attitude, but when in form he is just fabulous. I think he has what it takes to beat Ovtcharov, the pressure is on Ovtcharov. He was struggling against Szocs. Niwa will win I believe and shock the public 4-1.
Men's Singles QF
LEE Sangsu - WONG Chuting . Both players are on the same level. LEE just beated ZJK and Samsonov but WCT is arguably better than those last 2 who are well past their peak. It's a close call as both players are in form. I think WONG Chuting will win, he won 4-0 in the 2016 World Cup. 4-1 for WONG Chuting.
DING Ning - ZHU Yuling . DING Ning is on fire. This is ZHU's big chance. DING is a huge favourite but I expect ZHU to give it all. 4-3 for DING
MA Long - Timo Boll. 4-0 for MA Long. I wish Timo wins, but let's be realistic. I hope i'm totally wrong here !
Double's Finals : OSHIMA/MORIZONO are really a strong pair. They face FZD/XX who destroyed the other Japanese pair in semis, but I think OSHIMA/MORIZONO are true doubles specialists and really strong. They've had only doubles and trained specially hard for this tournament while the Chinese will have their QF to play just after that. They might be not 100% focused, especially if the match doesn't go their way quickly and easily. I vote for a miracle 4-3 Japanese win
Men's QF:
Whether its NIWA or OVTCHAROV, difficult to predict anything else than a 4-0 FZD win....except a 4-1 win... Maybe he will drop a set after playing the Doubles final so 4-1 FZD
HARIMOTO will face the winner of XU vs LIN. I believe HARIMOTO can shock the world again. He's fearless and fierce, exactly what is needed to beat the Chinese. His style is a bit unconventional and I'm not sure the Chinese are wholly prepared for that. Add the pressure of facing a 13y old in a big event... and you've got the ingredients for a major upset. 4-2 for HARIMOTO.
