by Ian Marshall, Editor
It was a far cry from the previous day when he had been the odd one out. In the second preliminary round of the Under 21 Men’s Singles event he had lost to Japan’s Aoto Asazu (14-12, 7-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6); his colleagues Lilian Bardet, Irvin Bertrand, Jules Rolland and Dorian Zheng had all progressed.
“I analyzed the playing style of Liao Cheng-Ting in some depth. In the match it went great. I played with a great deal of confidence to manage the four-nil win. In the Under 21 competition I was eliminated; that was a big disappointment. Now I am focusing on the seniors.” Leo de Nodrest.
A resounding win for Leo de Nodrest; his efforts rather overshadowed those of Germany’s Qiu Dang. In a very similar manner he ousted Russia’s Kirill Skachkov, the no.6 seed, in four straight games (11-3, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6).
Good form Leo de Nodrest and Qiu Dang, it was the same from fellow qualifiers Korea Republic’s Park Ganghyeon, Hong Kong’s Su Zhi and Japan’s Yuta Tanaka as it was from Chile’s Juan Lamadrid; all caused upsets as the top half of the draw in the Men’s Singles event advanced.
Park Ganghyeon beat Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes, the no.19 seed (12-10, 17-15, 11-3, 11-6), Su Zhi accounted for Switzerland’s Lionel Weber (11-5, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8). Similarly, Yuta Tanaka overcame Hungary’s Nandor Ecseki (11-4, 8-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 14-12), Juan Lamadrid ended the hopes of Romania’s Hunor Szocs (11-8, 10-12, 12-10, 14-12, 11-8).
Surprise outcomes but not for Egypt’s Omar Assar, the top seed, he started his quest for honours by beating England’s Tom Jarvis (4-11, 11-6, 3-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5); somewhat similarly, Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic made a positive start to his campaign. He defeated Russia’s Lev Katsman (11-6, 11-2, 11-7, 11-2).
The second round of the Men’s Singles event will be conducted later in the day.
