He arrived in India with an aim to qualify for the main draw. Never in his wildest dreams would Cho Daeseong - the 20-year-old Korean - would have thought he will emerge as the toast of the WTT Star Contender Goa 2023.
The southpaw - ranked 193 - sent World No. 1 Fan Zhendong of China packing in the round of 32 to register the biggest win of his flourishing career. Trailing 2-0, the Korean crusader came back to win the second round encounter 7-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 in 30 minutes.
“The best win of my career, so very happy,” Cho said after receiving a standing ovation at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium on Thursday. “He is very strong but I just thought I had nothing to lose after trailing 2-0, so I just thought of going into an all-attacking mode.”
Fan, playing his first match of the tournament, started off on a positive note to enthral a sizeable crowd wit his all-round play. But after the first two games, Cho, who had accounted for Sweden’s Mattias Falck in the first round on Wednesday after winning three rounds in the qualifying draw earlier this week, changed his tactics.
Riding on backhand punches and forehand winners, the Korean kept on breaching Fan’s defence consistently to stretch the match into the decisive game. In the decider, Cho opened a handsome 8-1 lead and then became jittery with victory in sight.
At 10-5, Fan saved three match-points before Cho closed the game out with a down-the-line winner. “When I was leading 8-1 in the decider, I thought may be I can. But from 10-5 when it became 10-8, I was a little nervous, the heart was pumping, thankfully I could close it out.”
Despite storming into the pre-quarterfinal, Cho candidly admitted he didn’t think of upstaging his fancied opponent. Enjoying a dream week, Cho wasn’t willing to get into celebratory mode yet.
“No, no, no. I didn’t think at all that I could beat him. But I felt very good when I woke up today. The celebrations can wait, the tournament is still on,” he said.
Lin Shidang, the teenage Chinese sensation, will be wary of the giant-slayer in the round of 16 on Friday.
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