Boll, the former world number one who carried the German flag at the Opening Ceremony of Rio 2016, has struggled on the international singles stage in recent months, leading to questions over whether his great powers were finally on the wane.

Franziska, meanwhile, has barely competed due to injury since winning the doubles title at October's European Championships in Budapest.

He also missed a place on the German Olympic team last year after an injury plagued year.

However, both appeared close to their best today.

Boll beat Japan's Maharu Yoshimura 11-9, 14-16, 12-14, 11-2, 11-9, 11-9 in his semi-final.

Franziska battled past home hope Lim Jonghoon 11-14, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9 to follow an equally impressive quarter-final victory over Sweden's Kristian Karlsson 11-7,11-2,11-3,11-7.

Given the absence of the Chinese team at the Namdong Gymnasium, it would be a step too far to describe the results as a sign of growing European dominance.

It was a fine display nonetheless after a series of Asian successes on the ITTF World Tour.

World number 11 Boll will start as favourite against an opponent who no longer holds a world ranking due to the amount of competitions he has missed.

But, after beating his elder compatriot in a German league match in October before a narrow defeat earlier this month, Franziska will still be confident of his chances.

There were no such shocks in the women's singles after top seeds Feng Tianwei and Kasumi Ishikawa each made the final.

Singapore's Feng beat Taiwanese qualifier Chen Szu-Yu 11-4, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8, 3-11, 11-6.

Ishikawa accounted for Japanese team-mate and fifth seed Miu Hirano in four straight games: 11-9, 11-6, 11-5, 11-2/

It reversed a defeat against the same player in the final of this year's Japanese National Championships.

Both finals are scheduled for tomorrow.