by Ian Marshall, Editor
Equally, in the Women’s Singles competition, Mariia Tailakova was in outstanding form; the no.24 seed, contrary to expectations she reached the quarter-finals, eventually losing to Japan’s Miu Hirano, the eventual silver medallist (11-2, 11-7, 11-7, 11-3).
In the Mixed International Team event, in their opening contest they face the Latin America combination of Chile’s Nicolas Burgos and Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz, the no.7 seeds. Notably, both suffered first round defeats in the respective Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles competitions.
Equally, for a different reason India’s Manav Vikash Thakkar and Archana Girish Kamath, the no.6 seeds, face a testing encounter as they start their journey. They oppose Azerbaijan’s Yu Khinhang and Ning Jing; at the quarter-final stage of the Women’s Singles event, Ning Jing suffered by the narrowest of margins against Archana Girish Kamath; for the reigning European Youth Champion there is a debt to settle.
Meanwhile in the remaining opening round fixtures, the prominent pairs, according to past results, start as clear favourites.
Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Miu Hirano, the top seeds, start their quest for honours against the combination of Argentina’s Martin Bentancor and Croatia’s Andrea Pavlovic, the no.18 seeds; Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju and Su Pei-Ling, the no.2 seeds face the partnership of Tunisia’s Nathael Hamdoun and Hong Kong’s Lee Ka Yee, the no.17 seeds.
Similarly, Truls Moregard and Sabina Surjan, the no.3 seeds oppose fellow Europeans Lithuania’s Medardas Stankievicius and the Czech Republic’s Zdena Blaskova, the no.20 seed; for China’s Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, the no.4 seeds, Germany’s Cédric Meissner and Franziska Schreiner await.
Meanwhile, Kanak Jha and Amy Wang of the United States, the no.5 seeds, oppose the Oceania combination of Australia’s Ben Gould and Fiji’s Grace Rosi Yee, the no.23 seeds; Egypt’s Youssef Abdel-Aziz and Marwa Alhodaby, the no.8 seeds, confront Moldova’s Vladislav Ursu and Slovenia’s Aleksandra Vovk, the no.24 seeds.
Eight groups in the initial stage, four teams in each group, the outfits finishing in first and second positions qualify for the main draw.
