Hitomi Sato vs Qin Yuxuan | WS QF | #WTTAstana 2026

Not least the table tennis. Punishing shot that she gets. Her opportunities to swoop in off nervy balls. See there, it's just unbelievable. The balance here from Qin Yuxuan. Excellent work from the 20-year-old. But that rule happens when 18 points have been played. 18 points or less and the game's gone on longer than 10 minutes. Clips the net, good adjustment there. She modified her stroke. Qin Yuxuan goes along with that forehand. Top seed here Wang Yudi. She's going to play Li Yujin. It's mesmerizing play on ground but the effort that it takes to lift backspin. The mental effort that it takes. Crazy. And there she goes again. Sato did defeat Wang Manyu this season. 3-0 at the United States Smash. Oh what a retrieve there. Still alive, Sato. Oh my goodness me. Already. Nice flat hit from Qin. Gets Sato wide. Drops it in short. Be decisive with the smashing. She manages to get a lob or a high chop out of Sato. Playing the right way here Qin. Nice drop. Backhand spin. Backhand push. Pivots. Hits it flat. Yeah. Clobbers it home. Showing that she's adaptable. Showing that she can think outside the box. Even against trickier styles. Yeah. I wonder if Sato's the same. Maybe they train with each other. Maybe that's the exception to the rule. Excellent. The way that you see the defense. Yeah she makes them so often. It's amazing. Some players have to play a shot a lot in a match to get into the groove of it but not Sato. 11-3 by Hitomi. This is good play here from Qin. That's one that she can hit flat because it's high. I can say that for sure. Defensive players will be surprised if she's thinking better give me that point after all that work. The pressure from Sato is to the table on receive here. Oh an opportunity for Qin. A bit hesitant on the serve there Qin. Into the table. Another game point here. Can she save it? She can. Beautiful calibration Oh she unleashes with a brave shot there. Well played. Into the middle in this first ever encounter against Hitomi Sato. She can. Again a little bit of net play there. Obviously Miwa Harimoto of Japan the main threat to team China right now. She won the recent champions Macau. Nice length on the serve. Fighting a very spinny ball from Qin. Oh they're not a natural talent. She'll probably beat you. No no no not from Sato in the first game and the dominance. It's better to try and distract them. She stamps sometimes as well. Head to the table. Still in this. Scooping shot from Sato. Playing the push and attack. Tactic now pushing. Qin there's the backhand spin. Whoa seems to have a lot about her Qin Yuxuan. Yeah violent serve from Hitomi. Impatient. She's being controlled. She's tried to construct the point. Oh an opportunity there for Sato. That's timing from Qin. Into control the tempo but everything's coming back and then the blink of an eye. How much do you drop the bat? Brilliant. Good footwork and balance from Qin. Sato doing what she does best here. Counters off the bounce from Qin Yuxuan. Backhand push. Shallow spin. Oh and just there. That top spin fishing shot from Sato. A nice drop shot there from Qin Yuxuan. Well timed. Meant to drop it short. The loop goes long and it's Hitomi Sato. It's defensive genius from Japan who's through.