by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
Tiago Apolonia beat Poland’s Marek Badowski (11-8, 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9), Cédric Nuytinck accounted for the host nation’s Kristian Nagy (12-10, 9-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9).
Likewise, Patrick Franziska defeated Austria’s Alexander Chen (11-7, 11-9, 1-11, 12-10, 11-6), Liao Cheng-Ting overcame Ukraine’s Yaroslav Zhmudenko (13-15, 11-4, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9).
The future is in their hands, for five other notable names who are the highest ranked players in their respective groups, matches have still to be completed; destiny is not in their hands
Hong Kong’s Lam Sui Hang was beaten by the Czech Republic’s David Reitspies (11-7, 11-4, 2-11, 11-6, 11-4), colleague Ng Pak Nam suffered at the hands of Bulgaria’s Stanislav Golovanov (12-10, 11-8, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 12-14, 11-3).
Similarly, the Czech Republic’s Pavel Sirucek experienced defeat when facing Belgium’s Laurens Devos (12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3), whilst Mexico’s Marcos Madrid was beaten by Sweden’s Truls Moregard (11-13, 11-7, 4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9) and Austria’s Andreas Levenko suffered when confronting Italy’s Chen Shuainan (11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4, 13-11).
“It was a very challenging match with many turning points I took the lead then he came back but eventually I managed to win. Success came through my variation of speed and spin, playing over the table. I stayed very focused in the key moments.” Laurens Devos
Defeats for group top names and there were also tense moments for two more; Singapore’s Gao Ning and India’s Soumyajit Ghosh were both required to recover from three games to one deficits. Gao Ning eventually beat Germany’s Qiu Dang (11-3, 9-11, 4-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8); Soumyajit Ghosh overcame Russia’s Vasily Lakeev (9-11, 11-3, 7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-7).
“It was hard coming back from three-one down, I needed to improve my receive of serve and be a bit more aggressive, for me the game got better and better. Maybe he started thinking too much as well. I am looking forward for the next match now.” Gao Ning .
“I had to fight really hard he had taken the lead and was playing well. I found myself in trouble being three-one down. I kept telling myself just keep the ball on the table as much as possible. Game five was the turning point; now I need to look ahead and move on the next match.” Soumyajit Ghosh
Play in the qualification tournament concludes on Wednesday 17th January.
