Kasumi Ishikawa qualifies for round-16: 2011 GAC GROUP World Table Tennis Championships
Kasumi Ishikawa made her way to the round-16, Women's Singles Category at the 2011 GAC GROUP World Table Tennis Championships. Kasumi defeated Yang Ha Eun from Korea in the round-32 Women's Singles category. She has firmly booked a place in the Japanese squad for the 2012 London Olympics.
Kasumi Ishikawa is currently the on the number 10 seed of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World women ranking. She defeated Yang Ha Eun in a match of six games scoring 11-8, 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 8-11 and 11-8. The match was held on the evening of May 11.
There was success for Ishikawa, but a major setback came from the defeat of Ai Fukuhara for the Japanese squad. Ai Fukuhara, the number seven seeded player, was defeated by Fan Ying from China.
The Chinese player won in a match of five games scoring 8-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8 and 11-9.
Ai Fukuhara expressed her feelings on the defeat she faced and said, “I am really disappointed to have lost but I don't have any regrets I want to improve my level."
Ishikawa Kasumi, 19-year old player was in tears when she won the match and said, "I wasn't thinking about winning until the last ball hit the floor. This shows that that I was not wrong in what I have been doing up to this point, Win or lose I just decided to play aggressively. I am looking forward to battling on and seeing how far I have developed”.
Ishikawa Kasumi will be facing Ding Ning from China at the round of 16 Women's Singles stage today. The competition will be tough for the young Japanese player.
Sayaka Hirano from Japan defeated Krisztina Toth from Hungary in a match of six games in the third round. The final score-line was 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 10-12, 13-11 and 11-5. Sayaka will be facing Fan Ying in the round-16. She will be looking forward to level the matters with the Chinese players and a quarter-final place.
Li Jie from Netherlands was a surprise player of the championship. She defeated Hiroko Fujii from Japan in a match of six games with a score-line of 12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-3 and 12-10.
The Japanese women's team had mixed results in the championship. The defeat of Ai Fukuhara is a major upset for the squad. Earlier at the Volkswagen Cup held in March Ai Fukuhara faced defeat in the semi-final stage, although she ended up in winning bronze medal.
Kasumi Ishikawa is truly a rising star in the Japanese women's side, a young player with that much skill can make a place in the top senior players of the table tennis circuit.
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