by Ian Marshall, Editor

Contrary to status, first place in the initial stage group was secured; soon after opening round wins were secured.

Anastasiia Beresnova beat England’s Denise Payet (11-6, 11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 5-11, 11-7) to reserve her second round place; similarly Vlada Voronina accounted for Portugal’s Raquel Martins (12-14, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4, 11-1). Meanwhile, in a similar vein Megan Gidney accounted for Spain’s Ana Maria Vertiz (11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 13-11, 3-11, 13-11); Poon Yat ended the hopes of the Czech Republic’s Gabriela Stepanova (10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9).

Somewhat surprise names to appear in round two; not where the very elite are concerned. Germany’s Franziska Schreiner, the top seed, duly finished in first place in her group and thus received a direct entry to the second round, as did Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Yu-Chin, the no.2 seed. In a similar vein the Russian combination of Ekaterina Zironova and Elizabet Abraamian, the respective third and fourth seeds, advanced to round two.

Surprise outcomes in the junior girls’ singles event; in the junior girls’ doubles, there was one casualty of note. The no.4 seeds, the combination of Brazil’s Giulia Takahashi and Laura Tiefenbrunner, experienced a narrow second round defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei’s Chen Tsai-Nai and Liu Ru-Yun (11-8, 5-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9).

Problems for the fourth seeds, there were no such difficulties for the remaining leading pairs. Elizabet Abraamian and Ekaterina Zironova, the top seeds, duly progressed to the quarter-final round as did Franziska Schreiner in partnership with colleague Anastasia Bondareva. Likewise, the Tsai Yu-Chin in in harness with compatriot Huang Yu-Jie, the no.3 seeds, duly progressed.

The junior girls’ singles and junior girls’ doubles events will be played to a conclusion on Thursday 2nd May.