Liam Pitchford knocked out world No 8 Lin Yun-Ju of Chinese Taipei with a superb performance at the WTT Contender Muscat in Oman today.

Click here to read the report from the previous day’s action.

Pitchford made a fast start. never trailing in the first game and pulling ahead from 4-4 to take it 11-6. He continued in that vein in the second, winning six of the first seven points and eventually prevailing 11-9.

Lin went 8-0 up in the third, which he took for the loss of three points, but Pitchford blitzed out to an 8-2 lead in the fourth, either side of a Lin timeout.

He brought up four match points, but was forced to take his own timeout when Lin saved three of them – but Pitchford finished the match on the next point as Lin’s receive clipped the net and went long.

Pitchford faces Japan’s Sora Matsushima (WR 50) in the last eight at 7.35am on Friday UK time on Table 2 – watch on the WTT YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, Pitchford & Tom Jarvis pulled off another superb doubles win to move into the semi-finals earlier today.

Up against Hong Kong duo Yiu Kwan To & Chan Baldwin, they won 3-2 to set up a semi-final against Anton Kallberg & Kristian Karlsson of Sweden at 11.35am on Table 1 on Friday.

The English pair took a two-game lead – pulling away from 4-4 to win the first 11-8 and taking four successive points from 7-7 in the second.

Their opponents hit back, pulling out from 2-1 to 7-1 on their way to taking the third 11-6 and then winning four out of five points from 7-7 in the fourth.

But Pitchford & Jarvis took charge of the decider from 4-4, opening up a 10-5 lead and claiming victory on their second match point.

Results

Men’s Singles
Round of 16
Liam Pitchford bt Lin Yun-Ju (TPE) 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9)

Men’s Doubles
Quarter-finals
Pitchford & Jarvis bt Yiu Kwan To & Chan Baldwin (HKG) 3-2 (11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 8-11, 11-6)