by Ian Marshall, Editor
An inspired performance, it means that Amin Ahmadian remains the one unbeaten player in the group; the previous day Lithuania’s Medardas Stankivicius, the no.22 seed, had lost to Manav Vikash Thakkar (11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5), in his second contest the Lithuanian suffered again. He was beaten by Javen Choong (9-11, 7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6).
“It was a very close match for me, so I’m very happy to win. My first match was tough, second match was tougher, I hope to win the next match and make the next round.” Amin Ahmadian
Two upsets and as play progressed there was one more but very minor; Egypt’s Youssef Abdel-Aziz, the no.7 seed, was beaten by Romania’s Cristian Pletea, the no.9 seed (11-6, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4).
Surprises but matters advanced very much according to status in the Men’s Singles event, the leading names in control. Notably, China’s Wang Chuqin, the no.6 seed, maintained his unbeaten record by overcoming Tunisia’s Nathael Hamdoun, the no.25 seed (11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7), as did Ioannis Sgouropoulos, the no.8 seed. He prevailed against Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen, the no.10 seed (11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9).
Success for notable names and it was success at the very top of the order as Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Kanak Jha of the United States completed their first phase itineraries. Tomokazu Harimoto beat Rohit Pagarani of Belize, the no.30 seed (11-1, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4) to finish the group ahead of Brazil’s Guillerme Teodoro, the no.16 seed; the Brazilian completing his progamme with success against Australia’s Ben Gould, the no.18 seed (11-4, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9).
Similarly, Kana Jha concluded his opening stage matches in style, he accounted for Jann Mari Nayre, the no.31 seed from the Philippines (13-11, 11-8, 15-13, 11-8).
Clear cut but second place behind Kanak Jha provided an interesting scenario. Chile’s Nicolas Burgos, the no.14 seed, who had lost to Jann Mari Nayre in his opening contest the previous day in five games (11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8), concluded his initial stage programme by overcoming Austria’s Maciej Kolodziejzcyk, the no.17 seed, in four straight games (11-7, 11-7, 12-10, 11-9). Notably the previous day Maciej Kolodziejzcyk had beaten Jann Mari Nayre without the loss of a single game (11-9, 11-8, 11-1, 11-6).
Thus games ratio between the three players who were level was needed to decided second place; the verdict went in favour of Nicolas Burgos (5:4) ahead of Maciej Kolodziejzcyk (4:4) and Jann Mari Nayre (4:5).
Play in the first stage of the Men’s Singles event concludes later in the day.
