Unseeded heroes fall short
Men’s Singles: Round of 32
Not amongst the top eight seeded pairs in Muscat, Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen and Lin Ye had outperformed expectations to reach the penultimate round of the mixed doubles draw. But, that was as far as they would go, losing out to Spanish fifth seeds Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao by a narrow 3-2 score-line (6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9).
The other combination through to the final is France’s Tristan Flore and Laura Gasnier following a convincing 3-0 win for the second seeds against Aliaksandr Khanin and Daria Trigolos of Belarus (11-7, 12-10, 11-9).
Finnish star too strong for Indian prodigy and second seed departs!
Men’s Singles: Round of 32
Benedek Olah looked most impressive in the 7.00pm session of play as the Finnish representative claimed a commanding 4-0 win over up-and-coming Indian talent Manav Vikash Thakkar to seal his passage to the Round of 16 (11-7, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6).
There was also a huge shock over on table 6 as France’s Tristan Flore edged a tight seven-game battle against Jonathan Groth (11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7), eliminating the second seeded Dane in the process!
Omar Assar books his last 16 ticket
Men’s Singles: Round of 32
The African continent will be represented in the last 16 of the men’s singles event in Muscat with Egypt’s Omar Assar needing just five games to come out on top in his encounter against Belarus’ Pavel Platonov (11-4, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7).
Meanwhile, over on table 5 Sharath Kamal Achanta has picked up the win in an all-Indian affair, seeing off qualifier Manush Utpalbhai Shah 4-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-9, 11-8).
Top seed sets the pace
Men’s Singles: Round of 32
Marcos Freitas doesn’t want to wait around! It took less than 18 minutes for the top seeded Portuguese star to come through his opening fixture in Muscat, powering past Mudit Dani 4-0 (11-4, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5).
Slovak defensive specialist Wang Yang also progresses after the no.5 seed dealt with experienced Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Karakasevic across five games (11-9, 12-14, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10).
Japanese stars show their strength
Women’s Singles: Round of 32
Seeded third for the women’s singles competition, Japan’s Miyu Kato is a key contender in the title race in Muscat and has produced a statement 4-0 win in her opening round contest against India’s Moumita Dutta (11-6, 11-5, 11-2, 11-3).
The other Japanese player involved in the 5.00pm session, Maki Shiomi also emerged victorious as she prevailed 4-1 in her meeting with Madhurika Patkar (11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-1). Slovakian fifth seed Barbora Balazova came mightily close to an early exit, requiring all seven games to beat Reeth Tennison (11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 18-20, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4).
Laura Gasnier comes through seven-game thriller
Women’s Singles: Round of 32
French no.13 seed Laura Gasnier has overcome her first round challenge by the skin of her teeth, fighting until the very end to hold off a brave comeback attempt from Indian qualifier Sutirtha Mukherjee on table 1 (11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6).
Over on table 3 Russia’s Yana Noskova recovered from an early deficit to prevail in her meeting with Kaushani Nath by a 4-1 margin (3-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-3, 13-15, 11-4) while Luxembourg’s Sarah De Nutte proved too strong for Diya Parag Chitale on table 2 (11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8).
Second and fourth seeds eliminated!
U21 Men’s Singles: Quarter-Finals
Pang Yew En Koen is out of the Under 21 men’s singles race after the second seed from Singapore suffered defeat to India’s Manush Utpalbhai Shah at the opening hurdle (11-7, 11-8, 11-4). Fourth seeded Jeremy Hazin has also bid his farewells with another Indian player in Snehit Suravajjula simply outclassing the Canadian (11-6, 11-2, 15-13).
Elsewhere, top seed Manav Vikash Thakkar and Jeet Chandra achieved victory, beating the host nation’s Issa Al-Riyami (11-1, 11-8, 11-2) and Maadh Al-Shahi (11-3, 11-6, 11-4) respectively.
Trigolos cruises to semis
U21 Women’s Singles: Quarter-finals
Daria Trigolos is following in her Belarusian teammates’ steps as she added to her mixed doubles win with another semi-final appearance, defeating India’s Diya Parag Chitale in straight games (11-5, 11-9, 11-6).
“I played quite well today in my first singles match but there were some moments where I need to improve myself. Very often I played safe from the table when in fact I should play more active and to fight aggressively.” Daria Trigolos
Tatiana Kukulkova in the mean time, had to prevent a recovery from Archana Girish Kamath, who had levelled up the scores at 2-2 despite being 0-2 down. Eventually, the Slovakian found a way past the Indian and managed to win 3-2 (11-3 12-10, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8).
Flore wins, Allegro follows
Men’s Singles: Round One
Tristan Flore was in prime form as he coasted against Pakistan’s Syed Obaid Shah, winning in straight games to make the next round (11-3, 11-6, 11-3, 11-4). The French player took no more than 17 minutes to win the match, where he accounted for 21 points on Shah’s service! Another Frenchman to emerge victorious in the session was Abdel-Kader Salifou, who needed just four games to see off Jeet Chandra (11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8).
“Today I won my match and I’m very happy because it was not so easy to play with a strong young player. I hope that it will be the same for the next round. The tournament is superb and I’m really happy to be here.” Abdel-Kader Salifou
Martin Allegro followed up with a 4-0 win over host nation qualifier Maadh Al-Shahi (11-9, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7). It was a strong showing from the Belgian, who needed to fight against the athlete and the crowd cheering their favorite on from the stands.
Good morning gets better for Khanin
Men’s Singles: Round One
Belarusian Aliaksandr Khanin is having a great day here at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, as he followed up his mixed doubles success with a win over Egypt’s Ahmed Zayed, losing just the one game (11-3, 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6).
“I had never seen my opponent before the match. My tactics in this game were better than before. I’m very happy to be in this tournament and I really found it well organized and the hall is fantastic.” Aliaksandr Khanin
For qualifier Anirban Ghosh from India, it was not as good a morning as he exited at the hands of the Canadian Jeremy Hazin, who won 4-0 (11-8, 11-8, 13-11, 11-9).
Service variety proves crucial
Men’s Singles: Round One
Clarence Chew is through to the men’s singles Round of 32 following a 4-2 victory over India’s Snehit Suravajjula (11-3, 10-12, 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8) and the Singapore competitor labelled his service game as a key deciding factor in the match:
“It was my first singles match so I think I did well. I had to keep changing my services and I tried to attack first, using all the opportunities to gain points.” Clarence Chew
Opening round exits for host hopefuls
Men’s Singles: Round One
Oman’s Issa Al-Riyami and Asad Alraisi were both eliminated in the first round of the men’s singles event, as they lost out to Florent Lambiet and Mudit Dani.
Belgian Lambiet won 4-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-6, 11-3) and kept Al-Riyami on the back-foot the whole time. For India’s Dani, it was a similar straight games win, accounting for pace in Alraisi’s returns well and making his moves timely (11-6, 11-2, 11-5, 11-4).
Epic clash to start the day
Mixed Doubles: Quarter-finals
Lubomir Pistej and Barbora Balazova were engaged in an epic clash to start the day, as they lost out to the Singaporean pairing of Lin Ye with Pang Yew En Koen in a 3-2 win for the Asians (11-7, 12-10, 4-11, 7-11, 13-11). The Slovak pair were down 0-2, managing to equalise, but it was to be in vain.
Over on table 3, Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs could not stop the steaming run of Belarusians Daria Trigolos and Aliaksandr Khanin, who won 3-1 (12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8) to wrap up the semi-final slot in 30 minutes!
