Heartbreak for local duo
Mixed Doubles: Preliminary Round 1
Agony for Hungarian table tennis fans in the final session of the day as Nandor Ecseki and Dora Madarasz suffer an early exit to Belgium’s Florent Lambiet and Nathalie Marchetti in preliminary round one of the mixed doubles event (14-12, 5-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-5).
The action on table 2 also produced a five-game thriller with Thailand’s Supanut Wisutmaythangkoon and Orawan Paranang holding off a brave challenge from Belarusian opponents Pavel Platonov and Nadezhda Bogdanova (11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 21-19, 11-9).
English duo edges full distance affair
Men’s Doubles: Preliminary Round 1
England’s Paul Drinkhall and Samuel Walker have shown great character to pull through a tricky first round fixture in Budapest, surviving a full distance tie against Huang Yan-Cheng and Sun Chia-Hung (11-8, 13-11, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7).
However, it was the opposite outcome for the other English pair in action as Tom Jarvis and Liam Pitchford suffered defeat at the hands of Turkey’s Ibrahim Gunduz and Abdullah Yigenler (3-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-2).
Different nationalities but strong understanding
Women’s Doubles: Preliminary Round 1
Egypt’s Dina Meshref and Greece’s Aikaterini Toliou may represent different countries but they have a good understanding of each other’s game. In their opening women’s doubles contest the mixed association pair came away with a 3-1 win over Poland’s Gabriela Dyszkiewicz and Agata Zakrzewska (11-4, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7).
Another mixed association combination to prevail comprised England’s Tin-Tin Ho and Austria’s Karoline Mischek, who also struck a four games victory in their encounter with Argentina’s Camila Arguelles and Ana Codina (11-5, 10-12, 11-4, 11-6).
Mehdi Bouloussa stuns
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round 2
Positioned at no.343 in the men’s world rankings list, France’s Mehdi Bouloussa has defied the odds to see off Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu across six games (11-8, 13-11, 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 11-6) to reach the third preliminary round of men’s singles qualification in Busapest.
Elsewhere, the host nation’s Nandor Ecseki also kept his spot in the race for qualification following a 4-1 win over Iran’s Nima Alamian (11-6, 12-10, 2-11, 11-8, 19-17).
Good session for Sweden
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round 2
Three players from Sweden were involved in the 3.40pm session and all three experienced victory.
Elias Ranefur produced an upset on table 7 with his 4-2 success against Serbia’s Aleksandar Karakasevic (11-8, 13-15, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7) while Anton Kallberg and Jon Persson came out on top in their respective meetings with Ibrahim Gunduz (10-12, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9) and Dimitrije Levajac (11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-6).
“This is the biggest win of my life!!!”
Bastian Rembert has just claimed a fantastic win in the 2.50pm session in Budapest with the young French star holding off a late comeback charge to beat Japan’s Masataka Morizono 4-3 (14-12, 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 10-12, 8-11, 11-8).
“So far this is the biggest win of my life! I am really happy I could manage to take the match… I had to mix my serves well between fast long ones and short ones to his forehand so he couldn’t attack me off the first ball. On return of service, I played wide to his forehand as I could control the balls from that side. I’m looking forward to the next round and will raise my game again.” Bastian Rembert
Pryshchepa falls at second hurdle
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round 2
Runner-up at the 2020 ITTF Challenge Plus Portugal Open, Ukrainian Yevhen Pryshchepa was unable to push on and qualify in Budapest as he lost out to Russia’s Kirill Skachkov (11-7, 4-11, 12-10, 11-5, 5-11, 11-5). However, the men’s singles champion in Lisbon Qiu Dang did emerge victorious against Abdullah Yigenler (12-10, 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5).
“I’ve had a good start to this tournament and he played very well today. It is a new hall and new conditions after all but we all have to get used to the calendar and we do not have much time to celebrate. I will fight in Budapest all the way! I am ready for the new challenge.” Qiu Dang
Meanwhile, in a Portuguese-domestic, Tago Apolonia beat compatriot Diogo Carvalho in straight games (11-8, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10) to move on to the final round of qualifying.
Szudi moves on, so does Togami
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round 2
Adam Szudi used his home advantage well as he beat Hong Kong China’s Ng Pak Nam in a 4-2 (4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9) win for the Hungarian.
Japan’s Shunsuke Togami continued his good run as he coasted to a straight games win over Belgium’s Florent Lambiet (11-7, 11-3, 11-6, 11-4), needing only 25 minutes.
No home advantage for Balint
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round 1
The Hungarian fans had to settle to see their women’s athlete, Bernadett Balint lose out to Audrey Zarif, as the French athlete was imperious in her 4-1 (11-6, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7) win.
Meanwhile, it was anything but simple for Austria’s Liu Jia who came back from 0-2 down to win 4-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-5, 11-9) against Sweden’s Christina Kallberg in a 45 minute epic.
Odo steams on
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round 1
Japan’s Satsuki Odo was too hot to handle for India’s Krittwika Roy, as she won 4-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6) to move on to the next round of qualifying.
France’s Yuan Jia Nan had to take good care while dealing with the ferocious shots from Argentina’s Camila Arguelles, in order to win 4-1 (11-4, 11-7, 13-15, 11-4, 11-6).
Long-time rivalry
Serbia’s Izabela Lupulesku has come through a gruelling seven-game battle with Croatian opponent Andrea Pavlovic (18-16, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 11-8) and after the match the victor spoke about their long-time rivalry:
“We know each other really well – we have had many hard-fought battles against each other since we were juniors. I was leading 3-1 but I knew she never gives up maybe I went a bit too relaxed. I was positive at the start of the last game and just had to stay focused all the way until the last point was played.” Izabela Lupulesku
Batra finds her form
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round 1
India’s Manika Batra had a stunning start to the Hungarian Open as she won in straight games against Belgian Margo Delgraf (11-6, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9), needing only 26 minutes.
Germany’s Shan Xiaona had a similarly powerful start to qualifying, as she won 4-0 (11-2, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8) against Czech Republic’s Katerina Tomanovska.
Mutti in the clear
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round 1
Leonardo Mutti was in a scintillating mood as he pulled clear of the challenge of Honduras’ Jose You in a 4-1 (11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 11-2) win for the Italian.
Over at table 1, there was a seven-game thriller for Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yan-Cheng versus Canada’s Marko Medjugorac, with the Asian coming out on top 4-3 (6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6) in 42 minutes.
Shunsuke Togami in good start
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round 1
Japanese Shunsuke Togami who caused one of the upsets last week at the ITTF Challenge Plus, Portugal Open, continued his fine form in Budapest with a 4-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-2, 11-1, 11-4) defeat of Spain’s Adrian Morato.
Similarly, his compatriot Yuma Tsuboi beat Aleksa Gacev 4-1 (7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8) to confirm his stay in the competition. Nigeria’s Kazeem Makanjuola was no match to Chinese Taipei’s Heng-Wei Yang as the Asian won 4-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-1, 11-6).
Early exit for Levenko
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round 1
Austria’s Andreas Levenko exited early after a 4-0 (11-2, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6) loss to Hungarian Patrik Juhasz. Belgium’s Olav Kosolosky had a 4-1 (11-2, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 15-13) edge over Luxembourg’s Luka Mladenovic to progress to the next stage.
“This was a very good match from me, and I played on a high level. We played against each other in the league a few years ago I lost to him, but it was very close. Today we had our tactics spot on with my coach and I have not given away any cheap points. This was the key to my success. I am pleased with my results looking forward to the next round.” Patrik Juhasz
Frenchman Alexandre Cassin had an easy passage to the next round after a comfortable 4-0 (11-2, 11-5, 11-6, 11-4) win over Hungary’s Norbert Nagy. Also, Frenchman Bastien Rembert negotiated the first hurdle with a 4-2 (11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-5, 11-5) victory over Hungary’s Oliver Both.
