England’s hopes of repeating their medal-winning Team World Cup performance of last year were ended by ruthless Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals this morning.
England were never allowed to get going in Tokyo as their opponents kept a stranglehold on the match from the start, winning every individual tie 3-0.
Paul Drinkhall & Tom Jarvis were overcome 11-9, 11-8, 11-2 by Liao Cheng-Ting & Chen Chien-An in the opening doubles.
Liam Pitchford could not hit back for England as he lost (9, 6, 11) to the teenaged left-hander Lin Yun-Ju, the world No 10, having led the first game 9-6. Pitchford also saved two match points in the third.
It was left to fellow left-hander Chen (WR 47) to seal Chinese Taipei’s semi-final berth with an 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 victory over Drinkhall.
Afterwards, Drinkhall said: “It is a good tournament for us having come through the group where we won two important matches. We just need to make some small changes in our game and generally, we have a perfect performance and this is the positive we are taking from this tournament.”
We were beaten by a better team today but overall it’s been a very positive tournament for us and I feel we’re moving in the right direction for where we want to be at the Olympic qualifiers in January … https://t.co/9nxAEQSpzt
— Liam Pitchford (@liampitchford) November 8, 2019
Pitchford added: “I was virtually leading in all the games but he was not missing his shot and he could receive very well. This is the first time I played against him and I could say the match was close throughout.
“I think we lost to one of the strongest teams in the tournament and we have learned a lot from this.”
Previous reports
Brilliant England blow away hosts Japan
England see off Austria to top group
England were the last remaining European nation in the draw and the semi-finals will be all-Asian affairs. Chinese Taipei will play South Korea, while Japan, who beat Germany in the quarter-finals, face China.
The women’s event is at the quarter-final stage today, with China facing USA, Hong Kong up against Chinese Taipei, South Korea against Ukraine and Japan versus Romania.
Watch the matches
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Drinkhall & Jarvis v Liao & Chen
Results
Quarter-final
Chinese Taipei 3 England 0
Liao Cheng-Ting & Chen Chien-An bt Paul Drinkhall & Tom Jarvis 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-2)
Lin Yun-Ju bt Liam Pitchford 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 13-11)
Chen Chien-An bt Drinkhall 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-9)