Last eight decided in Lausanne

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

In the Men’s Singles competition, Frenchmen Adrien Mattenet, Antoine Hachard, Paul Gauzy and Andréa Landrieu, alongside Romania’s Alexandru Cazacu emerged in first places in their respective groups; Spain’s Marc Duran, having finished in second place in his group behind Andréa Landrieu, received the one available “Lucky Loser” spot.

Following a series of play-off matches; Adrien Mattenet, Andréa Landrieu and Antoine Hachard emerged as the qualifiers.

At the quarter-final stage Adrien Mattenet meets Japan’s Jun Mizutani, Frenchman Panagiotis Gionis opposes Portugal’s Marcos Freitas; in the opposite half of the draw, João Monteiro, also from Portugal, opposes Andréa Ladrieu, Antoine Hachard confronts Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

Meanwhile, in the Women’s Singles event, Azerbaijan’s Ning Jing and Wang Miao secured first places in their respective groups, as did Emmanuelle Lennon of France; the one “Lucky Loser” place was gained by Emina Hadziahmetovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina. She finished in second place behind Emmanuelle Lennon.

Progress but Ning Jing emerged the only member of the quartet to reserve a last eight place. She beat Slovenia’s Alex Galic 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7).

Alas for Emina Hadziahmetovic, Emmanuelle Lennon and Wang Miao, it was the end of the road.

Emina Hadziahmetovic was beaten by Spain’s Galia Dvorak (11-8, 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4); the Slovak Republic’s Eva Odorova ended the hopes of Emmanuelle Lennon by the very narrowest of margins (11-9, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 5-11, 11-9), Switzerland’s Rachel Moret halted the aspirations of Wang Miao (11-2, 11-9, 12-14, 12-10, 14-12).

In the round of the last eight, Galia Dvorak faces Hungary’s Georgina Pota; Ning Jing plays Sweden’s Li Fen; in the opposite half of the draw, Eva Odorova meets Spain’s Daniel Monteiro-Dodean, Rachel Moret confronts Sweden’s Matilda Ekholm.

Play concludes on Sunday 12th February.