by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Furthermore, all posted wins in a most impressive manner; there was little charity on offer.

Philipp Floritz beat Mario Costa (11-2, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8), whilst Gustavo Gomez accounted for Diogo Silva (11-3, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7). Similarly, Juan Lamadrid overcame Thiago Pradella (11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-3); in a very similar vein Alejandro Rodriguez emerged successful when facing Wesley Rosa (11-6, 11-8, 11-5, 12-10).

The only reverse experienced by a visitor as play commenced in the Men’s Singles qualification tournament was the defeat suffered by Chile’s Mauricio Benales; he was beaten by the Eduardo Tomoike (11-2, 11-8, 14-12, 7-11, 11-6).

Meanwhile, in the remaining contests, all Brazilian affairs, there were wins for Danilo Toma, Israel Barreto, Vitor Sanchez and Fabio Arasaki as well as for Carlos Ishida, Massao Kohatsu and Rafael Torino.

The one member of the group to experience problems of note was Carlos Ishida; he needed six games to overcome a spirited Henrique Narita (15-13, 15-13, 8-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-5).

Players finishing in first places in each of the eight groups advance to the main draw where the join the eight seeds; the qualification tournament will conclude on Thursday 5th April.