by Ian Marshall, Editor
Furthermore, we did not have to wait long for upsets to occur.
Men’s Singles
…………Poland’s Marek Badowski caused a major opening round upset by beating Slovakia’s Lubomir Pistej, the no.8 seed (8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 12-10, 11-9); however, his joy was short-lived, in the next round he suffered at the hands of Belgium’s Robin Devos, the no.22 seed (11-4, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7).
…………Japan’s Takuya Jin, required to qualify, caused the biggest second round upset; he overcame Brazil’s Gustavo Tsuboi, the no.4 seed (11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8).
…………Winner the previous week in Slovenia, the host nation’s Wei Shihao continued his quite outstanding run of form. He beat Austria’s Andreas Levenko, the no.29 seed, before ousting Russia’s Alexander Shibaev, the no.10 seed (11-3, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4).
…………Chinese Taipei Chuang Chih-Yuan and Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson, the top two names, both booked third round places by recording five games wins. Chuang Chih-Yuan beat Frenchman Jules Rolland (11-6, 11-9, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8); Kristian Karlsson accounted for colleague Elias Ranefur (6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9, 15-13).
Women’s Singles
…………Chinese Taipei’s Su Pei-Ling caused the first shock of the day; she beat Austria’s Sofia Polcanova, the no.3 seed, in the opening round (11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 5-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-8). Furthermore, she maintained her form; she overcame Sweden’s Linda Bergström, the no.17 seed (11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10) to reserve her place in the third round.
…………Haruna Ojio caused the biggest upset in the second round; a qualifier she accounted for Japanese colleague, Hitomi Sato, the top seed (1-11, 11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4).
…………Former champions departed in round two, Monaco’s Yang Xiaoxin, the no.20 seed and winner in 2014, was beaten by Japan’s Miyu Nagasaki, the no.8 seed (11-6, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6); the latter’s colleague, Honoka Hashimoto, the no.6 seed and successful in 2017, suffered at the hands of Ukraine’s Tetyana Bilenko, the no.18 seed (14-12, 4-11, 12-14, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9).
…………Japan’s Saki Shibata, the defending champion and no.2 seed, booked her third round place in style; she beat Viktoria Pavlovich of Belarus, the no.22 seed (11-8, 11-5, 11-7, 11-6).
Men’s Doubles
…………Brazil’s Eric Jouti and Gustavo Tsuboi, the winners last week in Slovenia, made a successful start to their campaign; the no.2 seeds, they overcame Slovakia’s Samuel Novota and Lubomir Pistej (11-8, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10).
…………Belgium’s Martin Allegro and Florent Lambiet, the top seeds, recorded a convincing opening round win; they overcame Sweden’s Fabian Akerström and Simon Berglund (11-9, 12-10, 11-9).
Women’s Doubles
…………Seeking a record breaking third consecutive title, Japan’s Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato, the top seeds, started their quest for honours by overcoming Thailand’s Orawan Paranang and Jinnipa Sawettabut (11-7, 11-6, 12-10).
…………Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki, the winners four days earlier in Slovenia, made the ideal start; the no.7 seeds, they accounted for Austria’s Karoline Mischek and Amelie Solja (11-9, 11-5, 12-10).
Under 21 Men’s Singles
………… Japan’s Yukiya Uda, the no.2 seed, beat Kanak Jha of the United States, the no.9 seed (6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7) to secure the under 21 men’s singles title. It is for 17 year old Yukiya Uda the first such title of his career.
Under 21 Women’s Singles
………… Croatia’s Sun Jiayi, required to qualify, won the under 21 women’s singles event beating Japan’s Yumeno Soma, the top seed, in the final (6-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-8). In 2017 she had been the runner up in Poland.
