by Ian Marshall, Editor
Close contests were the order of play, on a day when a Grand Finals winner and European champion departed.
Men’s Singles
…………Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan, the 2002 Grand Finals winner, was the biggest name to fall; he was beaten in the second preliminary round by Germany’s Qiu Dang (11-6, 15-13, 11-4, 11-8). Qiu Dang maintained his form to beat Frenchmen Can Akkuzu (5-11, 11-8, 11-6, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9).
…………Sweden’s Truls Moregard, only 17 years old, was the player of the day. He beat Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia (11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 11-4) and Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu (13-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-2, 1-11, 11-7).
…………Surprise winner one year ago, Japan’s Kazuhiro Yoshimura kept his title retention hopes alive; he beat the Czech Republic’s Pavel Sirucek in six games (11-6, 12-10, 2-11, 2-11, 12-10, 11-8) to reserve his main draw place.
…………Croatia’s Tomislav Pucar continued his good run of form; he beat another player in form, Slovakia’s Lubomir Pistej (11-3, 11-3, 6-11, 11-4, 11-3) to reserve his spot in the next stage.
…………England’s Paul Drinkhall won the match of the day, he beat Japan’s Masataka Morizono in a titanic contest (11-6, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11, 8-11, 15-13) but there was not to be a place in the main draw. In the concluding preliminary round he was beaten by China’s Zheng Peifeng (11-9, 14-12, 11-7, 12-10).
Women’s Singles
…………The leading names booked main draw places, in the concluding preliminary round Japan’s Miyu Kato beat Luxembourg’s Ni Xia Lian (11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 11-6, 11-5); Canada’s Zhang Mo accounted for Austria’s Karoline Mischek (11-8, 11-4, 11-6, 11-4).
…………Russia’s Yana Noskova performed the recovery of the day, she fought back from three games to nil in arrears to beat Romania’s Elizabeta Samara, the 2015 European champion (12-14, 9-11, 8-11, 14-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9).
…………Minnie Soo Wai Yam flew the flag for Hong Kong, she reserved her main draw place courtesy of success against Korea Republic’s Choi Hyojoo (11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9).
…………China’s Mu Zi ended the progress of one of Europe’s brightest hopes, she beat Hungary’s Georgina Pota, the recent winner at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Slovenia Open.
…………Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu ended the hopes of Manika Batra, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion (11-3, 7-11, 11-2, 4-11, 16-11, 11-8).
Men’s Doubles
…………Sweden’s new combination of Kristian Karlsson and Jon Persson maintained their impressive form as a partnership; they booked their main draw places courtesy of success against the more experienced Russian duo of Alexey Liventsov and Mikhail Paikov (9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7).
Women’s Doubles
…………Japan’s teenagers, Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki continued their winning ways; they progressed to the main draw courtesy of success against Romania’s Daniela Monteiro-Dodean and Elizabeta Samara (12-10, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11, 11-4), the 2009 and 2012 European champions.
