by Ian Marshall, Editor
Defeat and perhaps somewhat of an upset but the biggest upset as pairs fought for main draw places was that experienced by England.
Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford who earlier this year in April had been crowned Men’s Doubles champions at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and last week in Bulgaria had reached the semi-final stage, losing by the very narrowest of margins when facing Japan’s Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima, the top seeds, experienced defeat,
They were beaten by Russia’s Vladimir Sidorenko and Grigory Vlasov (11-9, 14-16, 12-10, 11-7).
Hard fought contests; no doubt Lubomir Jancarik and Tomas Konecny are wondering what might have been but if any pair has thoughts how matters might have turned out on a different day, it is that of Brazil’s Eric Jouti and Gustavo Tsuboi. They were beaten in one of the closest contests not only of the day but of the year. They experienced defeat at the hands of the combination formed by Denmark’s Anders Lind and Hungary’s Bence Majoros; the deciding fifth game one neither pair will forget (11-9, 11-2, 8-11, 8-11, 17-15).
Notable performances, likewise in the second preliminary round of the Women’s Doubles event, there was one to note; China’s Liu Gaoyang and Zhang Rui, the runners up last week in Bulgaria booked their place in the competition proper. They beat Korea Republic’s Lee Yujin and Park Joohyun (11-9, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9).
The main draw commences on Thursday 23rd August.
