Bădescu stuns two-time runner-up (Gothenburg 1993)
Negotiating a marathon encounter during yesterday’s action, Romania’s Otilia Bădescu is back amongst the headlines once again with another exceptional victory to her name.
Silver medallist in 1989 and 1991, Ri Pun-Hui was aiming to go one better this time out and finally stand atop the podium. However, Bădescu had other ideas, toppling Ri across four games (21-13, 21-13, 20-22, 21-19) to secure her ticket to the penultimate round.
Former bronze medallist Andrzej Grubba exits! (Gothenburg 1993)
Just four years ago Andrzej Grubba was celebrating an excellent bronze medal finish at the 1989 World Championships in Dortmund, but here in Gothenburg it is a Round of 16 exit for the Polish star.
The man responsible for Grubba’s elimination was none other than young Belgian player Jean-Michel Saive who produced a fantastic display, needing just the three games to seal the win (21-17, 21-15, 21-19). Belgian table tennis has an exciting future ahead!
Zoran Primorac edges full-distance thriller (Gothenburg 1993)
Two of the European continent’s finest have just played out an epic contest in the men’s singles last 16 with Croatia’s Zoran Primorac and Germany’s Jörg Rosskopf going the full five-game distance.
Neither player was able to establish a clear advantage throughout the tie for as soon as one took the lead the other would respond immediately. In the end, Primorac held the slight edge and it proved enough to see him through to the quarter-finals (21-15, 14-21, 21-16, 16-21, 21-16).