by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Notably Spain and France being was much to the fore.

On duty for France, Ala Papirer (Class 1), Stéphane Molliens (Class 2) and Lucas Creange (Class 11) ended the day unbeaten, as for Spain did Francisco Lopez (Class 4), Alvaro Valera (Class 6), Jordi Morales (Class 7) and Juan Bautista Perz (Class 9).

Impressive performances from France and Spain; it was the same from the Nordic countries. Norway’s Tommy Urhaug (Class 5) ended the day unbeaten as did the Swedish duo of Carl Ohgren (Class 3) and Emil Andersson (Class 8).

Meanwhile, in the one further category, it was success for Indonesia; David Jacobs (Class 10) ended the day unbeaten.

First places for the top seeds but in the Men’s Singles events, there were three surprise first place group names.

Spain’s Miguel Angel Toledo (Class 2) beat Frenchman Benoît Besset, the no.2 seed (7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8) to secure first place in his group. Likewise Japan’s Junki Itai (Class 6) and colleague Takumi Tsujimura (Class 9) upset the odds.

Junki Itai accounted beat the host nation’s Alberto Seone, the no.2 seed (11-5, 18-16, 11-5), Takumi Tsujimura overcame Thailand’s Sukij Samee, no.4 seed (11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-3).

Benoît Besset, Alberto Seone and Sukij Samee all secured second places in their respective groups and advanced to the second stage. Benoît Besset duly reserved his semi-final place by beating Chinese Taipei’s Huang Ching-Hung (11-2, 11-8, 11-9); similarly, Alberto Seone overcame Sweden’s Michael Azulay (9-11, 11-7, 13-11, 7-11, 11-8).

Alas for both Takumi Tsujimura and Sukij Samee, there was to be no further progress; both experienced quarter-final defeats; Takumi Tsujimura was beaten by Spain’s Edgar Mataro (5-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-6), Sukij Samee lost to Sweden’s Daniel Gustafsson (11-9, 11-5, 11-6).

Play in the individual events concludes on Saturday 10th June.

Spanish Para Open: Draw and Latest Results