by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

Players finishing in first and second places in each of the 15 groups plus one “Lucky Loser”, drawn at random from the second places players, advance to the main draw.

After beating Switzerland’s Lars Porch (11-7, 11-9, 11-7), Narayan Kapolnek was beaten by Denmark’s Andreas Dilling (11-5, 13-11, 5-11, 11-4). Lars Porch and Andreas Dilling now meet in the concluding match in the group.

Likewise the future of four further players who started the day as the leading name in their respective groups ended the day with the future out of their hands. Spain’s Carlos Caballero, Russia’s Maksim Kiselev, Slovenia’s Tom Sfilgoj and Israel’s Mathan Simon are all looking over their shoulders.

Carlos Caballero beat Croatia’s Dominik Drazic (11-5, 11-7, 11-6) but then lost to Brazil’s Gustavo Yokota (7-11, 11-9, 11-4, 13-11); Maksim Kiselev suffered against Moldova’s Vladimir Ursu (10-12, 11-8, 13-11, 11-9), before beating Nicholas Tito of the United States (10-12, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7).

Defeat in the opening contest, it was the same for Mathan Simon; he was beaten by Feng Yijun, like Nicholas Tito from the United States (11-9, 12-10, 11-7), prior to accounting for Brazil’s Carlos Ishida (12-10, 5-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-1).

Play in the Under 21 Men’s Singles qualification tournament concludes on Wednesday 11th April.