by Simon Daish
Recently crowned Central American champion in four different categories, in Budapest Mexico’s Marcos Madrid will have the chance to seal top spot in his men’s singles group but to do so he must first topple Croatia’s Tomislav Kolarek. Don’t miss this winner takes all contest which gets underway at 12.00pm.
Approximately 45 minutes later at 12.45pm we’ll see Michael Maze, 37, return to the table for his second encounter in Budapest. Awaiting the Dane is 43-year-old Serbian representative Aleksandar Karakasevic – who will prevail in the battle of experienced heads?
There’s an intriguing fixture lined up at 2.15pm as Lithuania’s Ruta Paskauskiene and USA’s Amy Wang meet in a battle of generations: At 42 years of age, Ruta Paskauskiene sits at 26 years her opponent’s senior and has significantly more experience on the international stage. However, Amy Wang’s game continues to develop at a rapid pace and is bound to offer up an exciting challenge.
Over in the mixed doubles draw top seeds Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem open their account against Romania’s Cristian Pletea and Elizabeta Samara at 6.00pm local time. At the same time Fan Zhendong and Ding Ning face the host nation’s Nandor Ecseki and Dora Madarasz. The successful pairs will meet in second round action later that evening – could we be set for a must-watch encounter between Hong Kong’s finest and the mighty partnership from China?
If that wasn’t already enough to wet your appetite, there are plenty of other fixtures from the two singles and mixed doubles tournaments to enjoy and we also have the start of the men’s and women’s doubles events.
Be sure to watch the action unfold live with itTV and follow the live blog throughout the course of the day for all the latest from Budapest.
