by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Success for one Japanese pair contrary to status, in similar circumstances there was success for another. Miyu Kato and Miyu Maeda accounted for Spain’s Galia Dvorak and Maria Xiao, the no.5 seeds (11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8).
Opening round defeats for two pairs in the Women’s Doubles event, it was the same in the Mixed Doubles competition.
India’s Sarthak Gandhi and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, the no.3 seeds, experienced defeat at the hands of the Czech Republic’s
Antonin Gavlas and Tomas Tregler (11-7, 12-10-11-9); similarly, the French pairing of Antoine Hachard and Gregoire Jean, the no.6 seeds, suffered when facing Sweden’s Simon Berglund and Hampus Nordberg (13-11, 11-6, 12-10).
Two surprises but although tested, there were no such pitfalls for the leading pairs.
In the Men’s Doubles event, a competition in which Hong Kong provides the top two seeded pairs, Jiang Tianyi and Lam Siu Hang beat England’s Tom Jarvis and Liam Pitchford (11-6, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7); in a rather more exacting contest Ho Kwan Kit and Ng Pak Nam overcame the host nation’s Tomasz Kotowski and Tomasz Tomaszuk (3-11, 11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3).
Likewise, in the Women’s Doubles event, Hong Kong is very much in evidence.
Doo Hoi Kem and Lee Ho Ching, the top seeds, beat Luxembourg’s Sarah de Nutte and Ni Xia Lian (12-10, 8-11, 11-9, 11-3); Hungary’s Dora Madarasz and Szandra Pergel, the second seeds, ended the hopes of the Czech Republic’s Renata Stribikova and Katerina Tomanovska (13-11, 12-10, 11-6).
The quarter-finals of both the Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles event take place on Saturday 7th October.
