Shidong cruises into quarters; Chuqin survives scare in Doha

Doha: Top seed Lin Shidong made light work of Swedish No 15 seed Anton Kallberg, winning in straight games 11 6, 12 10, 11 7, 11 6 as the title favour...

Doha: Top seed Lin Shidong made light work of Swedish No 15 seed Anton Kallberg, winning in straight games 11-6, 12-10, 11-7, 11-6 as the title favourite stayed on course for his maiden world singles title yesterday.

On day-five of the ITTF World Championships Finals Doha 2025, the 20-year-old Chinese sensation spent 35 minutes to overcome the Paris Olympics silver winner, holding off a stiff opposition particularly in a tense second game.

The win earned Shidong to book an all-Chinese quarter-final meeting with two-time world Championship team gold medallist Liang Jingkun who ended Englishman Tom Jarvis’ dream run with a thrilling 4-2 (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 5-11, 11-2, 11-6) win.

Jarvis, one of the surprise stars of the Doha tournament, had earlier racked up wins over Slovakia’s Benedek Olah, Germany’s 10th seed Dang Qiu and Romania’s Iulian Chirita.

Unlike his World No.1 compatriot Shidong, World No. 2 Wang Chuqin had to push hard for survival when he met France’s Simon Gauzy in search of a spot in the quarter-finals.