by Ian Marshall, Editor

Enzo Angles had recovered from a three games to nil deficit to beat Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia; Masataka Morizono had trailed Sweden Elias Ranefur by three games to two and was down 3-7 in the sixth. Compared with the performance of Kanak Jha, their efforts paled into insignificance.

Playing the host nation’s Hampus Soderlund in the third preliminary round of the Men’s Singles event, like Masataka Morizono he trailed three games to two; only in the sixth game, he was down 4-10! He won eight points in a row, won the game and then dominated the decider to secure a seven games success (11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 13-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-3).

“At the start of the sixth game I lost focus, I was angry with myself, in the fifth game I led 10-7 and lost. I made so many simple errors; mentally I was totally down. I just relaxed, just played; I thought I had no chance. At 10-7 Simon took a “Time Out”, I could feel that he was worried; I just thought keep playing, I lose, I lose. I won the game and everything changed. I stopped making mistakes, my focus returned and so did my confidence.” Kanak Jha

A close contest and as the third Men’s Singles preliminary round came to a close, there were two further seven game nail-biting finishes but not with quite the same level of drama.

Slovenia’s Bojan Tokic beat Japan’s Kazuhiro Yoshimura (16-14, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8); balancing the books for the Land of the Rising Sun, Jin Ueda ended the hopes of Russia’s Alexander Shibaev (6-11, 11-4, 11-13, 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9).

One further preliminary round remains.