BUDAPEST, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Tomislav Pucar produced a shocker in the World Table Tennis Championships here on Wednesday, beating German star Dimitrij Ovtcharov in seven sets.
Rallying from 2-3 down, the world 58th-ranked Croatian dominated the last two sets and overcame the world No. 12 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 2-11, 11-5 and 11-7.
Ovtcharov, who won one silver and three bronze medals at the Olympics between 2008 and 2016, lost all firepower after taking a lopsided fifth set.
China's Olympic champion Ma Long moved into the last 16 with a 4-1 win over Belarussian veteran Vladimir Samsonov, edging closer to his third straight world singles title.
Chinese youngsters Lin Gaoyuan and Liang Jingkun also advanced on a 4-1 scoreline.
In the most watchable women's singles game, Chinese Sun Yingsha, ranked 29th in the world, eliminated the world No. 7 Mima Ito of Japan 4-1.
China's three-time Olympic champion Ding Ning made short work of Puerto Rican Adriana Diaz 4-0, while her teammate Chen Meng cruised over Thailand's Suthasini Sawettabut 4-1 to join compatriot Wang Manyu in the last 16.
Wang beat Romanian Elizabeta Samara 4-2 before China's world No. 5, Liu Shiwen, whitewashed Britt Eerland of the Netherlands in straight sets.
