Ominous signs
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round Two
Winner just two days ago in Stockholm, China’s Wang Chuqin made his intentions clear; he commenced his quest for honours by beating Thailand’s Supanut Wisutmaythangkoon (11-8, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4).
Likewise, colleague Sun Wen, on the brink of qualification for the Grand Finals, made a positive start, he accounted for Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An by the very narrowest of decisions (8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 12-10).
Problems for India
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round Two
It was not the best of fortunes for India as the day closed.
Sharath Kamal Achanta lost to Finland’s Benedek Olah (9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 10-12, 11-8, 14-12, 11-5), Amalraj Anthony suffered against Panagiotis Gionis of Greece (7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-1, 11-6). Likewise, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran was beaten by Romania’s Rares Sipos (11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10), Sanil Shetty departed proceedings at the hands of China’s Zhao Zihao 911-4, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8).
Turning back the clock
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round Two
The winner in 2001 and 2005, Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus made a successful start to his campaign but he was tested. He needed the full seven games to beat the Czech Republic’s Tomas Polansky (7-11, 5-11, 11-1, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-8).
“It was my first match here in Bremen and I haven’t played any tournaments for a while. The European Championships one month ago was my last tournament. We play so much nowadays that four weeks is a long time. He is not a bad player, soon I was 0-2 behind. In the sixth game he had his own serve at 3-2 and 9-7; that was another tight situation but you just keep playing. I have played so many matches, being behind and finally won. Anything can happen, just keep playing until the end.” Vladimir Samsnov
Big names fall
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round Two
Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia and Austria’s Robert Gardos are out of the running in the race for men’s singles qualification, experiencing defeat at the hands of Bastian Steger (6-11, 11-4, 3-11, 12-10, 11-6, 12-10) and Florent Lambiet (13-11, 2-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10) respectively.
“After my 0:3 defeat in German Bundesliga recently, I watched the game again on video and knew that I would have a chance to win. Therefore I started with a good feeling and was determined to take revenge.” Bastian Steger
Ho Kwan Kit is also out, however, it was always going to be an uphill task for the Hong Kong player with Korea Republic’s Jeoung Youngsik responsible for his elimination (11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8).
Alvaro Robles reacts
Fresh from his impressive 4-2 win over Chinese Taipei’s Feng Yi-Hsin (11-8, 12-10, 5-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8), Spanish competitor Alvaro Robles spoke about how he was forced to adapt halfway through the match and his upcoming meeting with Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic:
“It was our first match against each other. After I had taken a 2-0 lead, he saw through my tactics. That made it a lot harder for me. He took the initiative, put me under a lot of pressure, especially on my backhand. At 2-2 I changed my tactics and played more actively. I took the long way round and used my forehand from the backhand side. That was the key. The next match against Darko Jorgic will be even harder. He has become better and better in the past months… It’s an open match I guess.” Alvaro Robles
Nigerian star powers through
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round Two
One of the African continent’s leading names, Quadri Aruna is on the brink of reaching the men’s singles main event in Bremen following another strong display from the Nigerian: meeting Ibrahim Gündüz in the second preliminary round, Aruna out-powered his Turkish counterpart across five games (11-7, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9) to extend his stay.
Winter closes in
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round Two
The home crowd in Bremen have another win to celebrate after Germany’s very own Sabine Winter came out on top in her encounter with Belgium’s Lisa Lung by a 4-1 margin (15-13, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9).
Over on table 2 Lee Ho Ching bid an early farewell with the Hong Kong player failing to get to grips with China’s Zhang Rui (14-12, 11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6). Another Hong Kong representative in Ng Wing Nam survived a major scare to beat Indian counterpart Sutirtha Mukherjee 4-3 (11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 8-11, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5).
Seventh time lucky!
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round Two
Unbelievable scenes over on table 3 as Hong Kong’s Li Ching Wan stuns Japanese opponent Maki Shiomi in a seven-game thriller. Down 3-1 on the games scoreboard Shiomi successfully managed to win back-to-back games, forcing a deciding seventh where she saved a total of six match point opportunities! However, at the seventh attempt Li finally made it over the finish line, claiming a major scalp in the process (11-8, 11-1, 10-12, 11-6, 12-14, 3-11, 18-16).
Elsewhere in the 4.15pm session Irina Ciobanu also deserves a shout-out with the Romanian competitor posting a commanding 4-0 victory over Russia’s Yana Noskova (11-5, 11-8, 14-12, 12-10).
Manika imperious in qualifying
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round Two
Manika Batra was in imperious form as she blitzed through against Thailand’s Jinnipa Sawettabut in under 27 minutes.
The Indian star recorded a 4-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7) win, and moves to the final qualifying round tomorrow. Luxembourg’s Sarah de Nutte will be joining her after beating Belgian Margo Degraef in a similarly one-sided match (11-3, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8).
Partyka and Haruna ‘Czech’ their progress
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round Two
Poland’s Natalia Partyka displayed a fearless performance as she rallied to win 4-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10) against Czech Republic’s Karin Adamkova.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Ojio Haruna was clinical in her match versus another Czech in Hana Matelova, needing just the five games to secure victory (11-6, 6-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-7).
China’s athletes start strong
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round Two
Gu Yuting and Wang Yidi enjoyed supreme starts to their conquests in Bremen, as they both recorded 4-0 wins over Denmark’s Stefanie Christensen and Poland’s Magdalena Sikorksa respectively.
The Chinese women were quick off the bat, springing to life with fast forehands and decisive backhands to give their European opponents little hope of any comebacks.
Sipos and Diaw cruise to next round
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
Romanian star Rares Sipos had a strong win to give him confidence over Switzerland’s Pedro Osiro, taking the match 4-1 (11-2, 11-5, 12-14, 11-7, 11-7).
Meanwhile, Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw took on Sipos’ compatriot, Bogdan Singeorzan in a 4-1 win for the African favourite, showcasing his forehand strength in qualifying (11-5, 11-8, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7).
Rumgay suffers early exit
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
Scottish Gavin Rumgay suffered an early exit at the hands of Hong Kong’s Li Hon Ming, as the 35-year-old Olympic athlete could not match the pace of Li’s play.
In a 4-0 defeat (11-9, 11-5, 11-4, 13-11) Rumgay looked a little jaded as Li was set on finishing points early and keeping the games short.
Bittersweet morning for Indians
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
Vikash Manav Thakkar was in form as he saw off the challenge of USA’s Michael Minh Tran in a 4-0 win (11-6, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7). Sadly for India, Soumyajit Ghosh was unable to replicate his compatriot Vikash’s result: playing against Bulgarian Pavel Platonov, Ghosh lost by the same score-line and was simply not able to register a winning game in the 17 minute match-up.
Remember to check the draw!
Simple start for favourites
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
China’s Liu Fei and Sweden’s Filippa Bergand had straight forward wins in qualification as they faced Germany’s Franziska Schreiner and Anastasia Bondareva.
“I’m feeling very good here. I know that my opponent is still rather young. That’s usually an advantage for a defender like me. I gave my best but didn’t expect it to be such a rather quick victory for me.” Liu Fei
Both host nation’s athletes were unable to register a game, as they lost in straight games to their far more experienced opponents.
