by Simon Daish
Notable names from across the globe will continue to fight it out for the chance to reach the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles main draws, with the qualifying group stage being followed by preliminary qualifying round action.
The final set of Men’s Singles group stage matches will see young Romanian star Cristian Pletea go head-to-head with Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo, with the winner of the tie sealing top spot in the group.
Another young talent who will be hoping to book his name in the main draw is Adam Szudi, but the Hungarian star will first have to negotiate an encounter with Kunal Chodri of the USA on day two in Düsseldorf.
There is an exciting fixture brewing in Group 29 as Argentina’s Gaston Also prepares to face Poh Shao Feng Ethan of Singapore for the honour of claiming first position in the qualifying group, while Dutch contestant Ewout Oostwouder and Malaysia’s Leong Chee Feng will take to the table in Group 50.
The Women’s Singles qualifying action also promises to excite on the second day of play, as the race for the main draw edges closer to the finish line.
Izabela Lupulesku is one of two Serbian contestants participating in the Women’s Singles qualifying group stage along with Dragana Vignjevic, and both players will aim to advance beyond their respective groups.
Group 4 will see Izabela Lupulesku take on Puerto Rico’s Daniely Rios for top spot, while Dragana Vignjevic will be looking for more qualifying joy in Group 24 as she attempts to see off the challenge of Canada’s Alicia Côte, who also has qualifying ambitions.
All three of Azerbaijan’s representatives are well placed in their qualifying groups and day two victories for Chen Xingtai, Zhou Chuyi and Deng Simeng will be enough to progress through to the next round.
Chile’s Katherine Low and Bulgaria’s Elitsa Zamfirova both edged to seventh game successes on the opening day in Düsseldorf, and the two players will fight it out against one another to decide who claims top spot in Group 38.
The Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles competitions will feature qualifying and main draw action on Day Two, while the main draw for the Mixed Doubles tournament also begins.
England has two pairings in the Men’s Doubles event with Paul Drinkhall partnering up with Liam Pitchford, and Samuel Walker joining forces with David McBeath while the 2011 European Championships gold medal winning partnership of Portugal’s Marcos Freitas and Croatia’s Andrej Gacina are also in the hunt for a place in the main draw.
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