Miu Hirano continues to show potential (Düsseldorf 2017)

Crowned Women’s World Cup champion against the odds last year in Philadelphia, Miu Hirano has achieved another milestone victory in her young career with the Japanese teenager advancing to the World Champions semi-finals here in Düsseldorf.

Seeded four positions below opponent Feng Tianwei in their quarter-finals encounter, but Hirano wasn’t fazed one bit as she blew the Singapore stalwart out of the water 4-0 (11-5, 11-2, 18-16, 11-5).

Zhang Jike is out!!! (Düsseldorf 2017)

Wow, wow, wow! Two-time World champion, London 2012 Olympic gold medallist and the no.4 seeded entry for the men’s singles draw is out in shocking fashion after falling in the Round of 32.

The man responsible for Zhang’s headline stealing exit was none other than Korea Republic’s Lee Sangsu as the no.17 seed demonstrated his capabilities for the world to see, claiming a most extraordinary result in the process (11-9, 11-6, 11-13, 11-6, 12-10). What drama here at the Messe Düsseldorf!

Pushed hard but Dima moves through (Düsseldorf 2017)

No.5 seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov is through to the last 16 of the men’s singles event with the home crowd helping the German star over the line in a tight contest.

Making a strong start but Dima saw his 2-0 lead over Hunor Szocs diminish and soon found himself trailing the Romanian by a 2-3 deficit. Both players continued to play at a high intensity, however, there could only be one winner and it was Dima who eventually came good 4-3 (11-2, 13-11, 9-11, 7-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-8). Cheers ring out across the stands as they see one of their own through to round four.

Qualifier Mu Zi makes top eight (Düsseldorf 2017)

One of the big stories of the 2017 World Championships is surely that of Mu Zi’s fantastic run and the qualifier from China isn’t done yet as she extends her stay in the competition by at least another round.

Taking on Japanese no.22 seed Miyu Kato in the Round of 16, Mu produced another phenomenal performance to prevail in straight games (11-7, 11-3, 11-9, 11-3) and guarantee her spot in the top eight.

Brave American effort stopped in its tracks (Düsseldorf 2017)

It’s the end of what has been a truly memorable journey for the United States duo of Lily Zhang and Wu Yue.

The unseeded partnership of Zhang and Wu, which toppled fifth seeds Lee Zion and Yang Haeun along the way, outperformed expectations to reach the last eight but it was there they met their match with China’s Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling proving one challenge too many (12-14, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7).

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat (Düsseldorf 2017)

The Chinese super pairing of Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin have pulled through a mighty test in the men’s doubles quarter-finals here in Düsseldorf, fighting back from 0-2 and then 2-3 behind to see off Hong Kong China’s Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting by a dramatic 4-3 score-line (8-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-4, 8-11, 11-1, 11-5)!