Twice a women’s singles runner-up at ITTF World Tour Platinum events this year, gold medallist at the 2019 World Championships in Budapest and most recently crowned Women’s World Cup champion for a record fifth time, Liu Shiwen has undoubtedly been one of the standout names in 2019.

Very much in-form and considered one of the favourites to claim the title in Linz, few could have predicted that Liu would fall at the first hurdle in Austria.

But, that’s exactly what happened! Standing opposite the table tennis giant was another member of Team China, 19-year-old Qian Tianyi whose standout accomplishments leading up to the contest included being crowned the 2018 World Junior champion. Qian’s personal best finish on the ITTF World Tour came just last month at the 2019 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open in Stockholm, when she reached the quarter-finals.

Never having met head-to-head on the international stage, on paper this was a draw Liu Shiwen fans would have been happy with. However, it was a good day to be a Qian Tianyi fan instead!

Early signs in the 4:40 pm fixture suggested Liu was set to pick up another routine victory with three of the opening four games going in her favour. Just one more game was required to seal her spot in round two, but that game win never came into being.

Trailing 1-3, the task was getting more difficult by the second but Qian refused to give up the fight and before long the tie was level at 3-3. There was a tension in the air which Liu sensed and for some reason, Qian was using it for her benefit. And still, when the seventh game was contested to find a winner, a 3-5 points lead in the pocket meant that Liu was sitting pretty.

Yet, it was not to be for the second seeded entry in Linz as qualifier Qian Tianyi snatched victory from the jaws of defeat (8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8) to pull off a monumental 4-3 upset.

It’s farewell to Liu Shiwen for now – and as for Qian Tianwei the journey continues on Friday 15th November where one of Korea Republic’s Choi Hyojoo or the host nation’s Sofia Polcanova awaits in the quarter-finals.