Career-best performance by table tennis ace Liam Pitchford

Chesterfield ace Liam Pitchford beat table tennis's former world number one on his way to a career-best performance on the World Tour.
Liam Pitchford in action at the Czech Open. (PHOTO BY: International Table Tennis Federation).Liam Pitchford in action at the Czech Open. (PHOTO BY: International Table Tennis Federation).
Liam Pitchford in action at the Czech Open. (PHOTO BY: International Table Tennis Federation).

Fresh from defeating world and Olympic champion Ma Long at the previous event in Bulgaria, Pitchford reached his first World Tour semi-finals, at the Czech Open. Among his scalps was the top seed, Dimitriz Ovtcharov, of Germany, whom he beat 4-1 (13-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6).

The 25-year-old lost 4-1 in the last four to China’s Zheng Paifeng, who went on to win the tournament.