by Ian Marshall, Editor
The no.18 seeds, Jeet Chandra and Snehit Suravajjula performed a spirited recovery against Romania’s Cristian Pletea and Rares Sipos, the no.2 seeds, only to de denied by the very minimal two point margin in the deciding fifth game (11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10).
Conversely, earlier in the day Manush Utpalbhai Shah and Manav Vikash Thakkar, the no.6 seeds, had survived; they were severely tested by Argentina’s Martin Bentancor and Santiago Lorenzo, the no.17 seeds, a full distance win was the outcome (12-14, 11-8, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7).
Two close calls for prominent pairs, it was the same for Russia’s Maksim Grebnev and Lev Katsman, the no.14 seeds who, like Manush Utpalbhai Shah and Manav Vikash Thakkar, needed five games to overcome South American opposition. They eventually ended the hopes of Brazil’s Guilherme Teodoro and Rafael Torino, the no.20 seeds (11-6, 12-14, 11-13, 11-8, 11-5).
Narrow margins, so near yet so far but it was a round where the highest rated pairs progressed. In fact there was just one upset; Portugal’s Vitor Amorin and Tiago Li, the no.26 seeds, ended the hopes of Germany’s Cédric Meissner and Kay Stumper, the no.15 seeds (11-8, 11-8, 11-7).
Success in style for Vitor Amorin and Tiago Li; it was the same for China’s Xiang Peng and Xu Haidong, the top seeds, they beat Nikhil Kumar and Nicholas Tio of the United States, the no.30 seeds, in three straight games (11-9, 11-7, 11-1).
Similarly, Japan’s Shunsuke Togami and Yukiya Uda, the no.3 seeds, imposed their authority on proceedings as did Chinese Taipei’s Feng Yi-Hsin and Li Hsin-Yang, the no.4 seeds. Shunsuke Togami and Yukiya Uda caused Germany more travails, they beat Meng Fanbo and Daniel Rinderer, the no.24 seeds (11-6, 11-4, 11-3). Meanwhile, Feng Yi-Hsin and Li Hsin-Yang accounted for Russia’s Artem Dvoynikov and Vladimir Sidorenko, alongside Jeet Chandra and Snehit Suravajjula, the no.18 seeds (11-7, 12-10, 11-5).
The second round and quarter-finals of the Boys’ Doubles event will be played later in the day.
