(by Steve Hopkins)

Dimitrij Ovtcharov overcame 6 match-points by Anton Kallberg to log one of the biggest come-backs of the young 2021 ITTF Calendar. Kallberg won the first two games and the two were tied 13-13 in the third game of the best-of-three match.  But Ovtcharov won 15-13, 12-10, 11-9 to pull out three 2-point wins and the narrow victory.  This now sets up a rematch of the Semifinals from last week as Harimoto logged his third consecutive 3-0 win to cruise into the Semifinal.

The other half of the draw is a whole series of unexpected upsets and turns.  Calderano fell to Darko Jorgic early.  Jorgic then logged a second major upset over Kristian Karlsson.  And just as big of a surprise is that Jorgic will be facing Germany’s Ruwen Filus.  Filus has finished a run of three consecutive upsets – defeating Woojin Jang, Jun Mizutani, and Lin Yun-Ju.  The upsets weren’t even close – Filus has lost only 1 game over those three matches.

On the women’s side, Mima Ito is in the Semifinals again – after a 3-1 win over Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz.  Ito will face Jihee Jeon of Korea.  Romania’s Elizabeta Samara continued her great showing by beating Hayeong Kim – that is her second upset win in a row, having beaten Ishikawa in the Round of 16.  Samara will face Feng Tianwei of Singapore.

Tune in tomorrow to see the Semifinal Results.  *Below is a video showing the final point of the Ovtcharov/Kallberg match.

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