by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
In the Men’s Doubles event, Hong Kong’s Kwan Man Ho and Li Hon Ming experienced defeat at the hands of Japan’s Hokuto Koriyama and Mizuki Oikawa (7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 13-11).
Likewise in the Women’s Doubles competition, it was defeat for the combination of Charlotte Carey of Wales and Alina Arlouskaya of Belarus; they lost to Malaysia’s Ho Ying and Kuan E. Xian (11-4, 4-11, 12-10, 11-7).
Unexpected outcomes, there were more. Notably in the Men’s Doubles event, Korea’s Choi Woojin and Kim Daewoo lost to Iran’s Amin Miralmasi and Hamidreza Taherkhani (12-10, 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9), whilst Sweden’s Simon Ardvisson and Hampus Soderlund experienced defeat at the hands of China’s Lai Jiaxin and Yan Sheng (11-5, 11-8, 11-7).
Meanwhile, in the Women’s Doubles competition, there were arguably surprise defeats for Hong Kong’s Liu Qi and Mak Tze Wing, as there was for the combination of India’s Sutirtha Mukherjee and Amrutha Pushpak.
However, realistically they were no great upsets. Liu Qi and Mak Tze Wing lost to Korea’s Kim Mingyung and Lee Yearam (11-7, 11-7, 11-6); Sutirtha Mukherjee and Amrutha Pushpak experienced defeat when facing China’s Yu Yifan and Yuan Yuan (11-3, 11-5, 11-8).
Disappointments for Hong Kong and for India; there was also disappointment for the host nation in the Women’s Doubles competition but not in the counterpart Men’s Doubles event.
In the former, Monapsorn Saritapirak and Jinnipa Sawettabut suffered at the hands of China’s Han Guoyu and Hu Yueyan (11-4, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8); conversely in the latter, Yanapong Panagitgun and Supakron Pankhaoyoy beat Austria’s Alexander Chen and Simon Pfeffer (12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8) to reserve there place in the knock-out stage.
The main event commences on Friday 18th May.
