by Simon Daish
One of the standout fixtures in amongst an action-packed programme sees two of Europe’s finest meet face-to-face in the opening round of the women’s singles draw as Sweden’s Matilda Ekholm and Romania’s Daniela Monteiro Dodean do battle on table 2 at 10.50am local time. Seeded 25th Ekholm enters the tie as favourite but rule out Monteiro Dodean at your own risk!
Another potential upset could come courtesy of Sabina Surjan, a young Serbian who continues to show great progress in her development. Looking to claim what would surely be one of the biggest victories of her career to date, can Surjan defy the odds and send no.33 seed Ni Xia Lian out at the first hurdle when the two meet at 10.50am?
Over on table 2 from 1.20pm catch an exciting men’s singles affair between rising stars from Hong Kong and Sweden as Ho Kwan Kit and Truls Moregard meet in a highly unpredictable match – If you’re one for lightning quick reactions and explosive rallies then this is a must-watch battle!
Also on table 2, 2011 bronze medallist Timo Boll will be in action at 3.00pm as the German legend launches his singles campaign against a dangerous opponent in Croatia’s Andrej Gacina while Egypt’s Omar Assar can expect a serious challenge when he takes on Portuguese star João Geraldo on table 6 at 3.50 pm.
In the second round of the women’s doubles event we have an absolute cracker of a match on the cards as two powerful partnerships clash: seeded 10th the combination of Sweden’s Matilda Ekholm and Hungary’s Georgina Pota will need to show great patience as they attempt to break down the 2015 bronze medal winning pair of Poland’s Li Qian and Li Jie of the Netherlands on table 2 at 4.40pm.
Always a joy to watch, brothers Nima Alamian and Noshad Alamiyan will be looking to build upon their impressive opening round victory but can the Iranian pair conjure up a massive upset against second seeds Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting when they take to table 7 at 5.25pm?
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.
