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 here on Thursday.
Facing a player 28 positions lower in the world rankings, the seventh ranked Boll had been struggling until 10-all in the deciding game before winning 11-5, 7-11, 10-12, 14-12, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10, reports Xinhua.
The last minutes saw Boll win a top-spin 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.
