by Ian Marshall, Editor

Farewell to Kirill Gerassimenko and it was farewell to another highly rated name in a contest that had an even more dramatic finish, Hong Kong’s Ng Pak Nam, the no.9 seed, was beaten by Japan’s Takeru Kashiwa (9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 4-11, 11-9, 15-13).

Defeats for seeded players and there were more but the level of surprise mild by comparison. Hungary’s Bence Majoros, the no.18 seed, lost to Korea Republic’s An Jaehyun (5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 13-11); likewise Aliaksandr Khanin of Belarus, the no.17 seed, suffered at the hands of Germany’s Gerritt Engemann (11-7, 6-11, 13-11, 11-7, 13-11).

Meanwhile, for Chile, it was not the best of times; Felipe Olivares, the no.22 seed, lost to England’s Andrew Baggaley (8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6, 11-9), Gustavo Gomez, the no.30 seed, was beaten by Frenchman, Joe Seyfried (9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7, 11-3).

Surprise outcomes; however, of the leading names in the lower half of the draw, Germany’s Benedikt Duda, the no.3 seed, Korea Republic’s Cho Seungmin, the no.5 seed and most importantly from a host nation point of view, Cédric Nuytinck, the no.8 seed, stood firm.

Benedikt Duda beat Spain’s Carlos Franco (8-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4), Cho Seungmin ended the hopes harboured by Sweden’s Simon Ardvisson of repeating his feat of four years earlier when he had reached the final; a straight games verdict was the outcome (11-4, 11-8, 11-2, 11-5). Meanwhile, Cédric Nuytinck accounted for Czech Republic’s Patrik Klos but it was a close call; he needed the full seven games (11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 8-11, 10-12, 11-6).

The second round of the Men’s Singles event will be played later in the day.