Slovenian Open 2012 Last 8 Confirmed

Well we got some grand repeats of WTTC matchups with World Number 1 Ma Long dampening the spirits of Bojan Tokic fans who eagerly awaited a return of Tokic's WTTC form from last year, it was not to be with the invincible Ma Long sealing a 4-1 win. Another of last year's epic duels repeated was Patrick Baum and the on-form Joo Se Hyuk who proved he had just as much tactical prowess in attack as in defense and re-instated a 4-2 victory for the 2nd year in a row.

Canada's Eugene Wang
Image from the Canadian Chinese Table Tennis Association

The surprise entry for this years tournament is Eugene Wang of Canada. Surpassing Gao Ning and Yang Zi of Singapore in the previous 2 rounds, he continued to cause upset by beating Tan Riuwu of Croatia. Eugene was runner up at last years US Open after a close 7 set loss to Thomas Keinath, so these results are outstanding for him. Joining him in the department of respectable results is young German player Patrick Franziska who defeated Tiago Apolonia already this tournament and was knocked out with a hard fought 4-2 loss to Xu Xin.

Yan An's tournament hopes were cut short by World Champion Zhang Jike. Many hoped to see Yan An give the 2011 World Cup winner a run for his money, especially after Zhang's Hungary Open straight set loss to Joo Se Hyuk. But Yan was unable to keep up with the masterclass and was sent home 4-1. Ma Lin and Wang Hao both cruised through with 4-0 victories also.

Mihai Bobocica is another hanging on tight in the draw. The Italian player led a 4-2 win over Croatia's Roko Tosic in the round of 16. He had previously beaten Robert Svensson 4-0 in the round of 32 and had been the lucky player to advance from Kim Min Seok's first round disqualification.