by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

However, there was no place for Kazuya Kaneko, the top seed and like Masachika Inoue, also from Japan. He withdrew from proceedings, after having beaten Korea’s Kim Teak Kon (11-8, 11-7, 11-4); thus paving the way for Great Britain’s Alexander Bland who overcame Kim Teak Kon (11-3, 11-1, 11-3) to secure first place.

Alas for Alexander Bland, the progress was short-lived; at the quarter-final stage he experienced defeat when facing Masoud Mojtahed of the United States (11-9, 11-6, 20-18).

Defeat for the top seed, in the Men’s Singles events it was the same in Class 10. In a group organised event, Chile’s Manuel Echveguren was beaten by Jerry Vasquez of the United States (9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6). Jerry Vasquez ended the day unbeaten.

Otherwise in the Men’s Singles standing categories, the top seeds remained untroubled. In Class 8, Australia’s Nathan Pellissier enjoyed a successful day but there was defeat for the no.2 seed. Canada’s Ian Kent was beaten by Colombia’s Diego Henao (11-8, 11-8, 11-7). Ian Kent duly finished in runners up spot and thus progressed to the main draw; for Diego Henao it was first place.

Notably in Class 9, there were no great problems for the top four names. Tal Leibovitz of the United States and Finland’s Esa Meittenen, alongside the Japanese duo of Koyo Iwabuchi and Nobuyuki Suzuki all topped their groups and progressed to the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, in the remaining standing class, in Women’s Class 8, in a group organised event, Zu Mingyu remained unbeaten, whilst in Men’s Singles Class 11, for players with a learning disability, Raymond Sacco of the United States ended the day without a defeat against his name.

Play in the standing classes concludes on Friday 29th June.

2018 United States Para Open: Results and Draws