Kasumi Ishikawa was one of two Japanese women's singles players to suffer semi-final defeats at the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Doha ©QTTA

Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa and Miu Hirano both suffered semi-final defeats at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals in Doha today.

In the women's singles, Ishikawa, the number two seed and the winner of the event two years ago in Thailand's capital Bangkok, was beaten by third seed Zhu Yuling of China 14-16, 3-11, 8-11, 7-11.

The reverse came after Hirano, the number 10 seed, had tasted a 2-11, 4-11, 3-11, 5-11 defeat at the hands of German 11th seed Han Ying.

Ishikawa had beaten Zhu in the girls’ team final at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Bratislava, but of the other eight encounters, she had just one win to her name from the 2013 Austrian Open in Linz.

After a close first game at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Qatar’s capital, Zhu seized control and never looked back.

Although Hirano will end the year higher than Han in the ITTF women’s singles world rankings, the odds prior to their contest were very much in favour of the German backspin player.

Han won a seven-game thriller against Hirano earlier this year in Kuwait and she delivered again in Doha, controlling the match from start to finish.

"Today I had a good balance between attack and defence, I felt confident," said the 33-year-old

"Last time when we played in Kuwait I won the first three games but then Miu Hirano played much stronger than today.

"I was prepared for a tough match - I’m surprised that I won so easily."

Olympic champion Ma Long of China is through to the men's singles final ©Getty Images
Olympic champion Ma Long of China is through to the men's singles final ©Getty Images

In the men’s singles semi-finals, Olympic champion Ma Long of China overcame South Korea’s Jeoung Youngsik 11-9, 11-8, 11-8, 14-12.

He now faces a gold medal match with compatriot Fan Zhendong, who defeated fellow Chinese Xu Xin 11-5, 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9.

The women’s doubles final will feature Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem and Lee Ho Ching and Japan’s Yui Hamamoto and Hina Hayata after both pairings successfully came through their last-four ties.

Doo and Lee beat South Korea’s Jeon Jihee and Yang Haeun 13-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7, while Hamamoto and Hayata proved too strong for compatriots Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato in an 8-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-5, 12-10, 11-6 win.

Japan are also represented in the men’s doubles final courtesy of Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima - 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 victors at the expense of Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit and Tang Peng.

Their opponents will be South Korea’s Jeoung and Lee Sangsu, who beat Russia’s Alexey Liventsov and Mikhail Paikov 8-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-4, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7 in a seven-game epic.

The finals are scheduled to take place tomorrow.