by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
Presently listed at no.58 on the Men’s World Rankings, Liam Pitchford beat Mattias Karlsson named at no.20 (3-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4) in a contest that avenged the defeat the Englishman had suffered in the second match of the quarter-final meeting in Halmstad; the verdict turned the momentum inexorably in favour of Sweden.
Conversely, Jon Persson, ranked no.68, overcame Belgium’s Cédric Nuytinck, named at no.47 in a hard fought seven games encounter (11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7); Kristian Karlsson ended the hopes of Korea’s highly talented 15 year old Cho Daeseong (11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-3). Presently on the Men’s World Rankings, Kristian Karlsson is named at no.18, Cho Daeseong stands at no.262.
A notable performance by Liam Pitchford, it was the same from the host nation’s Liang Jingkun, Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic and Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu, as it was from Hong Kong’s Jiang Tianyi as play progressed in the second qualifying round. All accounted for higher rated opponents
Liang Jingkun beat Japan’s Jin Ueda (11-3, 11-5, 11-7, 11-6), Darko Jorgic accounted for Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko (11-8, 11-7, 12-10, 11-6), whilst in a much closer contest Ovidiu Ionescu overcame Germany Ruwen Filus in the most exacting match of the round (11-9, 8-11, 11-4, 10-12, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10). Similarly, Hong Kong’s Jiang Tianyi ended the hopes of Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An (11-4, 12-14, 11-4, 4-11, 11-9, 11-6).
Meanwhile, to the delight of the home supporters, Zhang Jike beat Korea’s Kim Minhyeok (12-10, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5); most notably Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna overcame Iran’s Nima Alamian (15-13, 17-15, 11-4, 11-8). Significantly, they meet in the final preliminary round.
Defeats for Mattias Karlsson, Jin Ueda and Ruwen Filus but for the remaining leading names according to ranking, it was second round success.
In addition to Kristian Karlsson, Denmark’s Jonathan Groth beat colleague Zhai Yujia (11-8, 12-10, 7-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5), Germany’s Patrick Franziska defeated Austria Daniel Habesohn (11-7, 9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4)- Likewise Japan’s Maharu Yoshimura overcame Korea’s An Jaehyun (5-11, 11-7, 11-13, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-8).
The third round, the round that determines main draw places will be played later in the evening.
