China's world champion Liu Shiwen suffered a shock defeat as the main draw began at the ITTF World Tour Platinum Austrian Open in Linz ©Getty Images

World champion Liu Shiwen suffered a shock defeat as the women’s singles main draw began at the the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Austrian Open in Linz.

Liu faced the challenge of rising star Qian Tianyi in an all-Chinese match at the TipsArena Linz in this Platinum-level event. 

Qian, the 2018 world junior champion, produced an impressive performance to recover from 3-1 down to force the match into a deciding game.

The 19-year-old completed an impressive comeback and delivered the shock of the round with her 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 victory.

She is now scheduled to face Austria’s Sofia Polcanova in the last 16.

China's Zhu Yuling, the top seed in the women's tournament, began her pursuit of a first World Tour title this year by beating Ni Xia Lian of Luxembourg 12-10, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7.

Zhu is now set to meet either Japan’s Miyuu Kihara or Romania’s Bernadette Szocs.

France's Simon Gauzy beat Austrian home favourite Robert Gardos ©Getty Images
France's Simon Gauzy beat Austrian home favourite Robert Gardos ©Getty Images

Home favourite Robert Gardos suffered in the last 32 of the men’s competition, where he faced the challenge of France's Simon Gauzy.

The Austrian player led twice during the match but was unable to secure victory against Gauzy, who had come through qualification.

Gauzy eventually earned a hard fought 8-11, 11-2, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8 victory.

He is now due to face Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju, an 11-9, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10 winner against Japan’s Maharu Yoshimura.

The winner in the contest could meet world number one Fan Zhendong in the quarter-finals.

The Chinese player began his bid for a second consecutive title at the event by easing to an 11-6, 11-7, 11-6, 14-12 win over Japan's Mizuki Oikawa.

Fan is now scheduled to face Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic.