"April is the cruellest month," warned T.S. Eliot. This spring, Singapore's Feng Tianwei likely needed no convincing. In April, she and the rest of the world's greatest players converged in Budapest for the ITTF World Championships. There, the 33-year-old veteran was eliminated in the round of 16 by China's Chen Meng, four games to one. Since then, Feng has slipped from tenth in the world to #12, while the 25-year-old Chen has risen from third to the coveted #1 spot. Feng, who had been ranked as high as #2 in the world in 2010, is still searching for her first ITTF World Tour title since the 2017 Korean Open. Fast forward to the present day, and the scene shifts to Bremen for the 2019 ITTF World Tour German Open. Once again, Feng Tianwei and Chen Meng meet in the round of 16. Despite this superficial similarity, this time the result was quite different. Today at 2:00 local time, Feng and Chen took to the table. The suspects then fled the scene around 2:30, thanks to a ruthlessly efficient (11-6, 11-2, 11-4, 11-8) scoreline posted by Feng. For her efforts, Feng has earned a quarterfinal matchup with Shan Xiaona of Germany, who will enjoy the support of the home crowd. The winner will face whomever emerges from the contest beween Yang Xiaoxin of Monaco and Japan's Mima Ito. In the other half of the draw, both quarterfinal matches are all-Chinese affairs. The Saturday matinee features Wang Yidi and Wang Manyu, while the evening show stars Sun Yingsha and Chen Xingtong. While China is assured a spot in the finals, nothing else is certain. April may be cruel, but October is downright crazy.

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