DUSSELDORF, Germany, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Japan's 13-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto created the biggest upset on the fourth day of the World Table Tennis Championships as he knocked out teammate and 6th seed Jun Mizutani in the men's singles here on Thursday.
In his world championships debut, Harimoto, ranked 69th in the world, broke the usually impenetrable defences of Rio bronze medallist Mizutani, winning 4-1.
"Age has nothing to do with table tennis," said Harimoto, who shocked the world by reaching the final of the Indian Open early this year.
Born on June 27th 2003, the Japanese sensation has been creating waves in the table tennis world in the last two years with his astonishing performances. Playing table tennis since he has been able to walk, a lot of Harimoto's success can be credited to his parents, who were both former Chinese national level players.
"I just wanted to play the game my way. I just wanted to attack and I did this right from the beginning. In the next match I want to try to use the same tactics and play the same style as today," said Harimoto of the biggest win in his career.
Earlier, Romania's Elizabeta Samara, ranked 31st in the world, also scored a surprise victory, overcoming Japan's world No. 10 Hitomi Sato 4-3.
Sato started the match well to grab an early lead by winning the first two games 11-5, 11-8, giving no chance to Samara to get used to her defensive game.
But from the third game onwards, Samara gained her control, and leveled the match 2-2.
"I didn't feel the ball so well in the beginning," said Samara. "Getting used to pimples was hard. But after that I kept the balls safe on the table. I keep a good combination of spin and push. She was also making many mistakes today, I knew that and I was waiting for that."
Samara found her rhythm just in time, winning one of the longest matches she has played in recent times, especially after her knee surgery earlier this year.