Top seed Pak Sin Hyok crashed out of the men’s singles draw at the ITTF Pyongyang Open after losing against fellow home favourite Ro Kwang Jin in seven games ©ITTF

Top seed Pak Sin Hyok crashed out of the men’s singles draw at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Pyongyang Open after losing against fellow home favourite Ro Kwang Jin in seven games.

Despite leading 3-1, the North Korean fell to an 8-11, 14-12, 9-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7 defeat at the hands of his compatriot and missed out on a place in the quarter-finals. 

There was no such trouble for second seed Choe Il and third seed Kang Wi Hun, both of North Korea, as they got the better of their last-16 opponents.

Choe defeated North Korea’s Kim Song Gun 11-7, 11-8, 11-7, 11-3, while Kang overcame China’s Yu Heyi 11-9, 16-14, 6-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6.

Women's singles top seed Ri Myong Sun is safely through to the quarter-finals ©Getty Images
Women's singles top seed Ri Myong Sun is safely through to the quarter-finals ©Getty Images

In the women’s singles draw, top seed Ri Myong Sun of North Korea ensured her progression to the last eight by beating China’s Qian Tianyi 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6.

Joining her in the quarter-finals is second-seeded compatriot Kim Song I, who defeated North Korea’s Ri Hyon Sim 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, 11-13, 11-6.

The biggest casualty was third seed Ri Mi Gyong, who suffered a surprise 11-7, 3-11, 11-8, 2-11, 9-11, 6-11 loss against China’s Fan Siqi.

The quarter-finals are scheduled to take place tomorrow.