Top seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany came through both his matches today to book a place in the men’s singles gold medal match at the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Astana ©ITTF/Rémy Gros

Top seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany came through both his matches today to book a place in the men's singles gold medal match at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals in Astana.

Ovtcharov started today at the Kazakh capital's Daulet Sports Complex by beating Japan's Tomoka Harimoto 11-7, 11-13, 11-8, 12-14, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7 in the quarter-finals.

He then recovered from two games down to overcome China's Lin Gaoyuan 7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 12-10.

"I think right now I'm on the crest of a wave," Ovtcharov, who will be the new world number one when the rankings are released on January 1, said.

"Everything is coming together; confidence, luck, it's also important sometimes in sport.

"Lin Gaoyuan played so strong in the beginning - I had no chance at all, however, I played one point at a time and was always looking for my chance."

Standing between Ovtcharov and glory is third seed Fan Zhendong, who beat Germany's Timo Boll 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 in the other semi-final.

The final will be a repeat of last month's ITTF World Tour German Open semi-final encounter, which Ovtcharov won in seven games.

"I'm excited for the final match against Fan Zhendong," Ovtcharov added.

"I think he's the favourite, but I shot him the last time in Germany and I will go into tomorrow's match with confidence, and I will enjoy it."

Current world number one Zhu Yuling is through to the women's singles final ©ITTF/Rémy Gros
Current world number one Zhu Yuling is through to the women's singles final ©ITTF/Rémy Gros

In the women's singles event, China's Zhu Yuling avenged her semi-final defeat to compatriot Chen Xingtong at last month's ITTF World Tour Swedish Open to reach the final.

Zhu triumphed 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 16-14, 11-7 to successfully follow up her 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-2 win over fellow countrywoman Wang Mangyu earlier in the day.

"I really enjoyed tonight's match," she said.  

"I felt good on court."

Awaiting Zhu in the final is doubles partner Chen Meng, who thrashed fellow Chinese Gu Yuting 12-10, 11-4, 11-5, 11-9.

Chen's win means she will replace Zhu as world number one when the women's rankings for January 2018 are announced.

"I'm very happy to be facing Chen Meng in the final," Zhu said.

"I believe it's going to be a very exciting match.

"Our last encounter was very intense and I hope we will play till the seventh game again tomorrow."

The men's and women's doubles finals are also scheduled to take place tomorrow.