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Boll holds nerve to survive thriller

Xinhua, April 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

German star Timo Boll kept his nerves to beat Portugal's Joao Monteiro in a seven-set thriller and reach the men's singles fourth round at the world table tennis championships on Thursday.

Facing a player 28 positions lower on the world rankings, the seventh ranked Boll had been struggling until 10-all at the deciding game, winning the match 11-5, 7-11, 10-12, 14-12, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10.

The last minutes saw Boll win a topspin rally to lead 10-9 before Monteiro pulled even with a forehand killer. The Portuguese was under immense pressure as he hit wide a shot and then sent a return to the net while misjudging spin on Boll's shot.

Boll faces Hong Kong player Wong Chun Ting on Friday. Endi