Liam Pitchford earned a quarter-final crack at top seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov with a 4-3 victory over Zhang Yudong at the Czech Open.
The English No 1 had to do it the hard way against a tricky opponent, coming from 3-1 down to the Chinese to win 4-3.
It was a good start for Pitchford as he took the first 11-7, but it started to look a more difficult prospect when Zhang came from 8-2 down to win the second 12-10.
Pitchford led the third 10-8 but lost it 14-12 and Zhang followed up with the fourth to leave his opponent needing to win the next three.
That he did with increasing authority, Zhang’s shoulders noticeably slumping when Pitchford went 8-2 up in the decider. Four points later, it was all over.
Pitchford will now take on top seed Ovtcharov at 10.40am UK time on Saturday – the German beat Park Ganghyeon of South Korea 4-1 to take his place in the last eight.
The quarter-final will be shown live on the ITTF website and is on Table 1.
Result
Men’s Singles
Round of 16
Liam Pitchford bt Zhang Yudong (CHN) 4-3 (11-7, 10-12, 12-14, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3)