by Ian Marshall, Editor

Again as on the opening day, knowledge counted.

Men’s Singles Qualification

…………experienced competitors, Slovakia’s Thomas Keinath and Germany’s Patrick Baum, after causing opening day upsets, booked main draw places; Thomas Keinath beat Russia’s Ilya Isakov (11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 6-11, 11-7), Patrick Baum overcame Oman’s Julanda Al Kharusi (11-1, 11-2, 11-4)

…………Saudi Arabia’s Ali Alkhadrawi continued to impress, a surprise winner on the opening day in opposition to Austria’s David Serdaroglu (4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10), he beat Egypt’s Ahmed Zayed (12-10, 11-6, 11-4) to secure first place in his group

………… Russia’s Aleksandr Tiutriumov, performed the recovery of the day; in the preliminary round he trailed Singapore’s Josh Shao Han by three games to nil and was on the brink of defeat in the fourth before emerging successful (9-11, 10-12, 6-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-9, 11-4)

Women’s Singles Qualification

…………In impressive fashion, Yana Noskova, the leading name on qualification duty secured first place in her group; she beat Kazakhstan’s Gulchekra Khusseinova in straight games (11-7, 11-7, 11-5)

…………First place in the group as anticipated for the Belarus duo of Viktoria Pavlovich and Daria Trigolos but there were testing times. Both needed the full five games to secure their main draw places. Viktoria Pavlovich beat Marie Migot of France (6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6); in a contest that resulted in an even closer finish, Daria Trigolos overcame Chinese Taipei’s Su Pei-Ling (11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 5-11, 11-9)

…………Japan made its presence felt, both Maki Shiomi and Sakura Mori secured main draw places in style. In their concluding group stage matches Maki Shiomi beat Kazakhstan’s Anastassiya Lavrova (11-4, 11-6, 11-9), Maki Shiomi ended the hopes of India’s Archana Girish Kamath (11-9, 11-7, 11-5)

Men’s Doubles Qualification

…………Frenchmen Can Akkuzu and Alexandre Cassin caused the biggest upset in the second preliminary round. They beat Iran’s Nima Alamian and Noshad Alamiyan, the winners on the ITTF World Tour in Belgium in 2015, in four games (11-4, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9) to book their place in the main draw.

Women’s Doubles Qualification

…………India’s Garima Goyal and Riti Shankar alongside Singapore’s Eunice Lim and Tan En Hui emerged successful in the two required preliminary round women’s doubles contests. Garima Goyal and Riti Shankar beat Iran’s Parinaz Hajilou and Melika Karami (11-7, 13-11, 10-12, 11-13, 11-6), Eunice Lim and Tan En Hui accounted for Egypt’s Sarah Abousetta and Mariam Alhodaby (11-3, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9)

Under 21 Men’s Singles Qualification

………… Pang Yew En Koen and Ethan Poh Shao Feng both secured group first places. In their concluding contests, Pang Yew En Koen beat Korea Republic’s Kim Byunghyeon (4-11, 15-13, 11-4, 11-3), Ethan Poh Shao Feng accounted for Russia’s Aleksandr Tiutriumov (11-8, 11-8, 11-8). One day earlier colleague, Josh Chua Saho Han had also secured first place

Under 21 Women’s Singles Qualification

…………Iran’s Parinaz Hajilou and India’s Pranitha Garlapati clinched first places in their respective groups against all the odds; both started the event as the lowest rated player in their respective groups

Mixed Doubles Preliminary Round

…………Singapore enjoyed success. Lucas Tan and Goi Rui Xuan accounted for Kazakhstan’s Denis Zholudev and Gulchekhra Khusseinova (11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8), Clarence Chew and Lin Ye overcame Pavel Platonov and Nadezhda Bogdanova of Belarus (11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8).