by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

After beating the host nation’s Jaka Strohsack (11-2, 11-7, 11-4), Dimitrije Levajac accounted for Hungary’s Istvan Molnar, the no.8 seed (13-11, 4-11, 11-6, 12-10) to end the day unbeaten.

Defeat for Istvan Molnar but the door is not closed, prior to experiencing defeat at the hands of the Dimitrije Levajac, the Hungarian had overcome Bulgaria’s Nikola Doyhev (11-6, 12-10, 11-5).

One match remains in the initial phase for each player; those finishing in first and second places in each group advance to the main draw.

Similar situation

Likewise, after a comfortable start, Kay Stumper caused an upset.

He beat Slovenia’s Peter Hribar, the no.15 seed (11-8, 4-11, 11-7, 11-8), after in his opening contest having overcome San Marino’s Mattias Mongiusti (11-9, 11-1, 11-2). Similar to Istvan Molnar there is hope for Peter Hribar; in his opening engagement, he defeated Romania’s Bogdan Jacob (11-5, 11-4, 11-5).

One more surprise

Two surprise defeats, there was one more as matters progressed on the third day of play in Otocec.

Victor Liu of the United States, the no.13 seed, was beaten by Mexico’s Guillermo Casio (11-6, 11-7, 12-10), before recovering to overcome Germany’s Sven Hennig (11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9).

A fine performance by the Mexican but on his next visit to the table it was defeat at the hands of Slovenia’s Luka Norcic (10-12, 11-4, 5-11, 11-4, 11-8) who earlier in the day had defeated Sven Hennig in a similar five games duel (5-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-13, 11-8).

Leading players

Surprise outcomes but that was not the situation for the leading young men.

Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic duly completed his group stage matches without defeat and thus booked his place in the main draw; for the other leading names, with one match still to play, the top spot is within sight.

Japan’s Aoto Asazu, Yu Kayama and Takeru Kashiwa remained unbeaten, as did Germany’s Jannik Xu in addition to the Chinese Taipei duo of Li Hsin-Yang and Feng Yi-Hsin.

Cadet Boys’ Singles

Success for the leading names in the Junior Boys’ Singles event; it was the same in the Cadet Boys’ Singles competition. Takeru Kashiwa and Feng Yi-Hsin, alongside the United States duo of Sharon Alguetti and Victor Liu, concluded the day unbeaten and thus in first place in their respective groups.

Proceedings continue

Play continues in both the Junior Girls’ Singles and Cadet Girls’ Singles events on Saturday 24th September.