The fifth day of action at the World Table Tennis Contender Lagos, served plenty of upsets, flair, and flamboyance as the vibrant home crowd enjoyed the best of displays from the players on parade.

Sadly it was the end of the road for top African Stars Dina Meshref and Hana Goda as they both subcummed to their Asian opponents.

The morning round saw 16 games being played, with five mixed double games that included a walkover for Chinese duo Fan Siqi and Liu Weishan against Indian duo Reeth Tennison, and Sutirtha Mukherjhee 3-0.

Six men and women’s singles round of 16 tie, and five men and women’s doubles quarter final tie were also decided afterwards.

It was the battle of the Asians in the mixed doubles on table 1 and 2, with Koreans reigning supreme in both.

Korean duo Jeon Jihee, and Jang Woojin, fought through to down Chinese duo, He Zhoujia and Zhou Kai 3-2(8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 13-15, 11-8) thrilling the home crowd.

Their kinsmen were not left behind on table one as well as, the duo, Shin Yubin and Lim Jonghoon defeated Chinese pair Fan Siqi, Liu Yebo 3-1 (11-9, 11-3, 11-9) in what was an electrifying contest worthy of the quarter final opener.

There were no surprises in the other mixed doubles games played on tables three and four.

Surprising results

The men and women’s singles produced a couple of surprising results, as world no. 60 from Denmark Jonathan Groth defeated world no 24. Yuan Licen from China 3-2 (10-12, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 11-6) in a hard fought encounter.

The Dane showing a lot of character and determination, an insight on how well he has toughened up on the game.

In the women’s section Sweden’s World no. 83 Christina Kallberg lost to non-ranked China’s Wang Xiatong 1-3 (11-6, 9-11, 9-11, 6-11) in what should be amongst the biggest upset of the tournament so far.

Other morning games in the men and women’s singles round of 16 played out as expected, the usual suspects coming prepared.

There was no upset in the men and women’s doubles quarter final matches played, with finesse and class shown all round the tables.

The only upset on the day would be to the home fans, who saw the last home duo in the tournament Amadi Omeh and Azeez Solanke crash out agonizingly to Chinese maverick duo, world no 12 Jang Woojin and his partner in crime Lim Jonghoon 0-3 (4-11, 5-11, 8-11) in what was really no contest.

The challenge was way beyond their pay grade, and it was obvious from the first serve.

The morning games were a sign of things to come in the afternoon as attention shifted to the 12 remaining men and women’s round of 16 games, and two mixed doubles semifinal games.

In a midday of huge upsets, in the men and women’s singles round of 16, last standing African and highly rated young star, world no. 35 Hana Goda crumbled like a pack of cards against Korea’s world no 95 Kim Nayeong 1-3 (3-11, 11-8, 3-11, 6-11).

This was after world no. 28 another African, Dina Meshref’s loss earlier as well.

India’s World no. 134, Harmeet Desai did the impossible on all fronts by defeating topmost ranked player on tour, 122 places above him, world no. 12 Korean, Jang Woojin 3-0 (13-11, 11-4, 11-7) in what has to be the biggest upset of the tournament so far.

It was an astonishing win that set the audience on fire as the fans aligned with the lowly rated Indian.

He rode on the raucous roar of the home fans, rooting and shouting instructions to the underdog, who responded in ways you’d argue he was a native, and understood the local parlance, at a glance, as he dismantled his more illustrious opponent.

Lowly ranked Guo Yuhan of China also defeated world no 34 Jeon Jihee from Korea 3-0 (13-11, 11-5, 12-10) in a mouth watering encounter.

There were three major upsets from 12 men and women’s singles game, in the afternoon/evening games.

The mixed doubles semifinals also served an upset in the last two games of the day played, as lowly ranked Chinese duo Xiang Peng and Liu Weishan defeated 4th seeded Indian duo Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath 3-2 (8-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9) in a thrilling comeback win.

Korean mixed double quartet Lim Jonghoon, Shin Yubin, Jang Woojin, and Jeon Jihee, paired up in a thrilling encounter with 3rd seed pair Jang Woojin and Jeon Jihee overcoming the first seed pair of Lim Jonghoon and Shin Yubin 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 11-13, 11-8, 14-12) in a close encounter.

It was a fitting game, befitting to end the game day, with the most upsets since the qualifying rounds on the first day.

Weekend action

Saturday day six, promises mind blowing drama, as the stage is set, and the fans definitely are fired up for upsets aplenty.

It becomes the battle of who wants it more at this stage, as previous days has shown that, name and pedigree do not play the game at the WTT Contender Lagos.

The day will begin with the men and women’s singles quarter finals, with one of the most sought out clashes, definitely the underdog world no. 134, Harmeet Desai of India against world no. 26 Xiang Peng of China high on the list.

This would be followed by the men and women’s doubles semifinal, which promises to be another jaw dropping set of games ahead, to round up the day.