Top two maintain progress
Under 21 Men’s Singles: Round Three
India’s Manav Vikash Thakkar and Japan’s Yukiya Uda, the respective top two seeds in the under 21 men’s singles event booked quarter-final places but in very different fashions.
Manav Vikash Thakkar needed the full five games to beat Italy’s Chen Shuainan, the no.26 seed in his third round clash (10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7); rather more comfortably, Yukiya Uda overcame Siddesh Pande, the no.15 seed and like Manav Vikash Thakkar from India. Yukiya Uda prevailed in straight games (11-5, 11-6, 11-2).
Ioannis Sgouropoulos and Bastien Rembert defy ranked order
Under 21 Men’s Singles: Round Three
Ioannis Sgouropoulos of Greece and Frenchman Bastien Rembert emerged the players to upset the seeding in the third round of the under 21 men’s singles event.
Most impressively, Ioannis Sgouropoulos, the no.24 seed, beat Italy’s Daniele Pinto, the 19 seed (11-4, 11-9, 11-8); Bastien Rembert, the no.11 seed, ended the hopes of India’s Jeet Chandra, the no.8 seed (11-9, 3-11, 11-8, 11-7).
Adina Diaconu and Kyoka Idesawa upsets seeding
Under 21 Women’s Singles: Round Two
Romania’s Adina Diaconu and Japan’s Kyoka Idesawa emerged the players to upset the seeding in the second round of the under 21 women’s singles event.
Kyoka Idesawa, required to qualify, caused the bigger upset; she accounted for Audrey Zarif of France, the no.5 seed (11-6, 11-7, 11-13, 11-6). Adina Diaconu, the no.14 seed, beat Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi, the no.7 seed (6-11, 11-9, 14-12, 8-11, 11-3).
Top four progress
Under 21 Women’s Singles: Round Two
The top four names in the under 21 women’s singles event all booked quarter-final places.
In the second round, Japan’s Yumeno Soma, the top seed, beat India’s Moumita Das, the no.13 seed (12-10, 11-3, 11-9); Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz, the no.2 seed, accounted for Korea Republic’s Shin Yubin, the no.12 seed (6-11, 11-9, 14-12, 8-11, 11-3). Likewise, India’s Archana Girish Kamath, the no.3 seed, prevailed in opposition to Slovenia’s Ana Tofant, the no.15 seed (11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7); Daria Trigolos of Belarus, the no.4 seed, ended the hopes of Russian qualifier Anastasia Kolish (11-9, 5-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-7).
No Slovenia repeat for Huang Chien-Tu and Wang Tai-Wei
Men’s Doubles: Preliminary Round Two
Silver medallists the previous week in Slovenia, in Croatia there will be no such reward for Chinese Taipei’s Huang Chien-Tu and Wang Tai-Wei. They experienced a third preliminary round defeat at the hands of Japan’s Hibiki Tazoe and Kenta Tazoe (15-13, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8).
Good form from Hibiki Tazoe and Kenta Tazoe, it was the same from colleagues Shunsuke Togami and Yukiya Uda; they prevailed in opposition to Austria’s Alexander Chen and Maciek Kolodzieczyk (11-8, 11-6, 11-2).
Argentine duo impresses
Men’s Doubles: Preliminary Round Two
Argentina’s Gaston Alto and Horacio Cifuentes, the highest rated pair on duty in the qualification stages of the men’s doubles event, provided arguably the most impressive performance of third preliminary round. They beat Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic and Deni Kozul in three straight games (11-7, 11-4, 11-5).
Similarly, Sweden’s Simon Arvidsson and Elias Ranefur alongside compatriots Fabian Akerström and Simon Berglund continued their good form. Simon Arvidsson and Elias Ranefur overcame Chile’s Gustavo Gomez and Juan Lamadrid (4-11, 7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7). Fabian Akerström and Simon Berglund accounted for Aliaksandr Khanin and Pavel Platonov of Belarus (11-4, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4).
Host nation recovery
Women’s Doubles: Preliminary Round Two
There was success for the host nation in the second preliminary round of the women’s doubles event and thus a place in the main draw.
Klara Cakol and Iviana Tubikanec performed the recovery of the round. They fought back from a two games to nil deficit to emerge successful by the narrowest of decisions against the combination formed by Charlotte Carey of Wales and England’s Maria Tsaptsinos (12-14, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 12-10).
Brazil and Chinese Taipei cause upsets
Women’s Doubles: Preliminary Round Two
The two highest rated pairs in the preliminary stage of the women’s doubles event both fell in round two.
Pauline Chasselin and Audrey Zarif of France lost to Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi and Jessica Yamada (10-12, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8); Nadezhda Bogdanova and Daria Trigolos suffered at the hands of Chinese Taipei’s Huang Hsin and Huang Yu-Chiao, a contest decided by the very narrowest of margins (11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 7-11, 14-12).
Progress for United States
Men’s Doubles: Preliminary Round Two
Young players from the United States enjoyed second preliminary round men’s doubles success.
Nicholas Tio and Zhang Kai combined to beat Italy’s Jordy Piccolin and Marco Rech Daldosso (11-9, 11-7, 11-4); Kanak Jha joined in harness with Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro overcame the Greek combination of Giorgos Konstantantinopoulos and Ioannis Sgouropoulos (11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5).
Swedish success
Men’s Doubles: Preliminary Round Two
Sweden enjoyed success in the second preliminary round of the men’s doubles event.
Simon Arvidsson and Elias Ranefur beat Japan’s Yuki Hirano and Kenji Matsudaira (11-9, 4-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7); Fabian Akerström and Simon Berglund ousted Lithuania’s Rimas Lesiv and Medardas Stankevicius (13-11, 11-9, 11-6).
Narrowest of margins
Women’s Doubles: Preliminary Round One
Close calls were very much the order of proceedings in the women’s doubles first preliminary round; none more so than that experienced by Chile’s Judith Morales and Paulina Vega. They secured victory by emerging successful in a quite titanic fifth game (11-8, 3-11, 11-7, 5-11, 16-14).
Likewise it was success by narrow margins for the British combination formed by Charlotte Carey of Wales and England’s Maria Tsaptsinos; eventually, they prevailed against Sweden’s Eric Font and Christina Källberg (6-11, 11-9, 10-12, 14-12, 12-10).
Second time success
Men’s Doubles: Preliminary Round One
Partners last week in Slovenia but exit at the first attempt, in Zagreb it was better news for the combination of England’s Matthew Daish and Norway’s Adrian Wetzel; they overcame the Chilean pairing of David Venezuela and Luis Vega (11-7, 9-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-4).
Success for one international partnership; there was success for another; Canada’s Matthew Lehman and Ukraine’s Yuriy Nadolnyy accounted for Iran’s Amin Ahmadian and Miad Lotfijanabadi.
Japanese success
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round
Five players from Japan on duty in the men’s singles preliminary round, it was success for all five.
Kenta Matsudaira beat Argentina’s Gaston Alto (11-7, 11-7, 11-8, 11-3), Yuto Kizukuri accounted for Ioannis Sgouropoulos of Greece (11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 15-13). Likewise, Kenta Tazoe overcame Poland’s Patryk Zatowka (9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 13-11, 11-4), Hibibi Tazoe prevailed against Frenchman Bastien Rembert (13-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6, 2-11, 11-9), as did Takuya Jin when facing Germany’s Steffen Mengel (11-8, 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-5.
Comeback delight
Under 21 Women’s Singles: Round Two
Trailing by a two-game deficit, top seed Yumeno Soma was forced to produce a mighty comeback effort to see off Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Yu-Chin (9-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8).
There were similar scenes for two of the host nation’s competitors as Sun Jiayi and Klara Cakol fought back respectively to beat Su Pei-Ling (7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6) and Selena Selvakumar (6-11, 9-11, 11-4, 13-11, 11-8).
Major names fall
Under 21 Men’s Singles: Round Two
Seeded third for the Under 21 men’s singles event but Belarus’ Aliaksandr Khanin has been eliminated at the second hurdle, suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Iran’s Amir Hossein Hodaei (13-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7).
The player seeded directly below in fourth, Russia’s Denis Ivonin also lost out in his second round encounter with Tian Ye of the United States (11-8, 6-11, 16-14, 12-10) while Japanese no.5 seed Shunsuke Togami fell to Spanish opponent Joan Masip (5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9).
Little room for error
Women’s Singles: Group Stage
Brazil’s Caroline Kumahara produced an excellent display in her closing group stage encounter, defeating the top ranked player of Group 25, Russia’s Olga Vorobeva in a tight full distance battle (11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 12-10, 13-11).
However, the news wasn’t so positive for Chile’s Judith Morales and Macarena Reyes, who were condemned to fourth position in their respective groups.
Impressive from start to finish
Women’s Singles: Group Stage
Adina Diaconu has successfully topped Group 9 to seal her place in the women’s singles draw after the Romanian star saw off Ukraine’s Ganna Farladanska with a top-draw performance across three games (15-13, 11-3, 11-9).
Melanie Diaz stunned
Women’s Singles: Group Stage
The top ranked player involved in women’s singles qualification but Puerto Rico’s Melanie Diaz has failed to finish atop Group 1, losing out to Romania’s Arina Singeorzan by a 3-1 margin (12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6). Diaz’s chances of reaching the main draw now hinge on her name being randomly selected as one of two “lucky losers.”
Ukraine player upsets the order
Men’s Singles: Group Stage
Taking on Austria’s Chen Alexander for top spot in Group 33 it was Ukraine representative Oleksandr Didukh who emerged victorious across four games (11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4) to move one step closer to qualification. A further round of qualifying awaits the winners of groups 24-41.
Otocec champion qualifies
Men’s Singles: Group Stage
Crowned champion at the recent ITTF Challenge Series event in Otocec, Croatia’s Wei Shihao has successfully qualified for the men’s singles main draw in Zagreb following a fantastic 3-0 win at the expense of Chinese Taipei’s Yang Heng-Wei (15-13, 11-8, 11-8).
Full distance required
Men’s Singles: Group Stage
In a winner takes all affair it was Poland’s Marek Badowski who came out on top in a five game thriller against Spanish opponent Miguel Vilchez (11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8) to top Group 3 in men’s singles qualification.
Japanese duo top groups
Under 21 Women’s Singles: Group Stage
The fourth ranked player in her group but that hasn’t stopped Japan’s Honami Nakamori from finishing at the summit of Group 7 as she recovered from a game down to beat Sweden’s Erika Front 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6).
Kyoka Idesawa also topped her group with success against Swedish opposition, prevailing over Alma Roose in straight games (11-8, 14-12, 11-8).
Qualification continues
The second day of qualification action ahead of the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Croatia Open is here – take a detailed look at the day’s schedule below:
