Suzhou (China), May 1 (IANS) Timo Boll, one of the biggest draws at the World Table Tennis Championships, advanced to the men's singles quarter-finals here on Friday.
Spectators were on Boll's side, cheering for every point won by the seventh-seeded German, who struggled but beat Hong Kong pen-holder Wong Chun Ting 11-9, 11-8, 3-11, 12-10, 14-12, reports Xinhua.
Boll joined teammate Patrick Franziska in the last eight, who advanced by beating Ukraine's Kou Lei 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8.
German top player Dimitrij Ovtcharov had been stunned in the second round.
The men's singles action saw World No.2 ranked Xu Xin stunned by fellow Chinese Fang Bo, former world youth champion. Fang, who jumped to fame by sweeping four titles at the 2009 youth worlds, nailed a 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-2, 8-11, 11-9, 13-11 victory over left-handed Xu, who has been troubled with a muscle strain in the left shoulder.
Xu picked up the injury on Thursday night as he paired with South Korean Yang Hae-un to reach the mixed doubles final. Xu asked for an injury break while trailing 1-4 in the deciding set and returned to tie 10-10, 11-11 before his 23-year-old teammate took the game.
Earlier, top-ranked Ma Long played an aggressive top-spin game to beat the best defensive player in the world. The 26-year-old Chinese beat 17th-ranked South Korean Joo Sae-hyuk 11-4, 11-3, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6.
Ma, the 2012 World Cup winner, has been notoriously under-achieving in Olympics and World Championships, overshadowed by teammate Zhang Jike, who has completed a Grand Slam of Olympics, World Championships and World Cup singles titles.
Zhang, aiming for his third straight world singles crown here, takes on Belarus veteran Vladimir Samosonov for a quarter-final berth.
Joo, who plays a chop-and-attack game, had trouble in responding to firepower from Ma and lost the first two sets easily. As he put more spin to his chops and distracted his rival with counter-attacks, Joo narrowly lost the third set but won the fourth.
Using powerful forehand attacks coupled with placement shots, Ma didn't give a chance to an already jaded Joo, wrapping up in five sets. Ma will vie for a semifinal spot against Hong Kong's Tang Peng, who beat South Korea's Lee Sang-su 1-11, 11-7, 11-8, 14-12, 11-9.
