Chinese second seed Wang Manyu was pushed all the way by Hanna Haponova at the World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Durban ©Getty Images

The round-of-32 action was completed in the singles draws at the World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Durban, with day five producing some thrilling contests.

In the men’s singles, top seed Fan Zhendong of China recovered from dropping the opening game, to defeat Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6.

Second seed Wang Chuqin of China was also a winner in five games, beating Yukiya Uda of Japan 11-9, 13-11, 4-11, 11-1, 11-3.

His compatriot and third seed Ma Long also advanced, overcoming Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson 11-4, 11-1, 11-6, 12-14, 11-1.

Fourth seed Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan ran out a straight-games winner, beating Chih-Yuan Chuang of Chinese Taipei 11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7.

Liang Jiangkun of China ensured the progression of all the top five men’s seeds, when he advanced 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 13-11 at the expense of Paul Drinkhall of England.

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany was on the end of an upset at the Durban International Convention Centre.

He was beaten by Croatian Tomislav Pucar, ranked world number 48, in a contest that went the distance, with Pucar victorious 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6.

Pucar will next face Omar Assar of Egypt, who pulled off an upset of his own by beating Truls Moregard of Sweden, ranked some 20 places above him, 11-6, 3-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9.

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov was beaten in seven games by Tomislav Pucar in Durban ©Getty Images
Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov was beaten in seven games by Tomislav Pucar in Durban ©Getty Images

In the women’s singles, top seed Sun Yingsha of China was a comprehensive 11-8, 12-10, 11-8, 11-5 victor against Elizabeta Samara of Romania.

It was a different story for her compatriot and second seed Wang Manyu, who was pushed all the way by Ukraine’s Hanna Haponova, before running out a 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 11-1, 10-12, 11-3 winner.

Third seed Wang Yidi of China also advanced, overcoming Portugal’s Yu Fu 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 15-13.

It was smooth sailing for her compatriot and fourth seed Chen Meng, who overcame German Xiaona Shan 11-2, 11-6, 11-4, 11-2.

Chen Xintong ensured all of the top five seeds progressed, with the Chinese player beating Hong Kong’s Zhu Chengzhu 11-4, 8-11, 12-14, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7.

Elsewhere in the women’s draw, Hina Hayata won an all-Japanese match-up, comfortably beating a player ranked 19 places above her in Miyu Nagasaki 11-3, 11-6, 11-8, 11-3.

Meanwhile Cheng-i-Ching of Chinese Taipei won the latest chapter in a rivalry with Bernadette Szocs of Romania, which dates back to 2010, with Cheng seven places higher in the rankings, an 11-6, 4-11, 11-4, 11-7, 15-13 winner.

 Singles action is scheduled to continue tomorrow with men’s and women’s round-of-16 matches.