Karlsson cruises
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round Three
Concluding day two in Australia, Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson cruised to the main event with a commanding display over Czech Republic’s Pavel Sirucek (11-6, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7).
In his 4:1 win, Karlsson needed to calm the sudden return from Pavel, eventually closing out the game in under 40 minutes. Meanwhile, China’s Zheng Peifeng had to work hard for his qualification against Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei. Zheng needed seven games to seal the victory, given the impressive comeback Chuang nearly made (8-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8).
Battle of the veterans
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round Three
Egypt’s Olympian Omar Assar went toe-to-toe with the in-form Portuguese Marcos Freitas in a match for the experienced professionals in Geelong.
“The Freight Train” was in top gear winning all four games on the bounce. His performances in Korea last week seemed to have egged him on, something which Omar was not ready for. Despite his best efforts, the Marcos had the upper hand throughout, leading to a clinical 4:0 win (12-10, 14-12, 12-10, 11-9).
Sun avoids An upset
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round Three
As the evening started to set in, fortunes changed quickly for the Korean An Jaehyun who could not overpower China’s Sun Wen in the final round of qualifying.
An started very strongly by winning two straight games in 20 minutes. However, with what turned out to be the makings of a comeback, Sun took the final four and raised the ante with strong play on his backhands. An was rattled, which helped Sun cap an hour-long emphatic match 4:2 (11-13, 7-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9).
Wang glides through
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round Three
Playing his third qualifying match as the underdog, Chinese Wang Chuqin soundly defeated Japan’s Maharu Yoshimura in an intense match.
Losing out the first game, Wang came back with a stronger forehand and pushed Yoshimura into a retreating stance. After taking four games in a row, Wang seems ready to take the big step into the main event (11-13, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8, 12-10).
Difficult afternoon for the Japanese
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round Three
It was to be a difficult afternoon for the Japanese in qualifying, as Shiomi Maki lost in straight games to China’s Li Jiayi, and it took Matsudaira Shiho six games and nearly 50 minutes to win against Ng Wing Nam (HKG).
Having defeated another Japanese Hina Hayata in the previous round, Li was pumped up as she bamboozled Shiomi in four games (11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5). For Matsudaira, the match swung consistently with Ng Wing giving her no room to work with, edging back into the match whenever it seemed lost. Eventually, Matsudaira claimed a hard fought 6-11, 12-10, 13-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-6 victory.
Liu Shiwen withdraws
Defending Australian Open champion, Liu Shiwen has had to withdraw from 2019 Australian Open due to injury. Reporting of discomfort in the lower back after Korea Open, she has returned to China to receive treatment. We wish her a speedy recovery.
Nina wins German derby
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round Three
Nina Mittelham came out on top with a notable performance against her German colleague, Han Ying. The young-veteran at 22 years, Nina was at her top service play in a 11-7, 11-4, 14-12, 6-11, 11-9 win.
Elsewhere, China’s Qian Tianyi saw off an impressive battle with Japan’s Miyu Kato. Dropping just the one game, Qian was careful not to leave too many wide spaces for Miyu to attack, winning three games on the bounce to claim a 4:1 victory (12-10, 11-4, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8).
China take two
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round Three
It was an intense battle between Czech Republic’s Hana Matelova and Chinese Sun Mingyang, as the latter saw off the European in a six game match which could have swung either way (13-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-13, 11-4, 15-13).
Meanwhile, Spanish hope Maria Xiao had to settle for a quick exit when Liu Weishan stepped up her speed of play in the Chinese athlete’s 4:2 win (11-6, 2-11, 11-6, 11-6, 5-11, 11-4). Unlike her compatriot, Liu wrapped up the match without too much trouble, hitting the 36 minute mark.
Teenage Asians power through
Women’s Singles: Preliminary Round Three
Japan’s Miyuu Kihara and China’s Sun Yingsha made short work of their respective opponents in the third round of qualifying in Geelong.
The 14-year-old Kihara was up against the Dutch Li Jie, and had to navigate through Li’s good defensive play in five games (11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7). Sun, coming on the back of a big win in Sapporo, was equally imperious versus Singaporean Zeng Jian (11-3, 2-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8).
Disappointment for New Zealanders
Men’s Doubles: Preliminary Round
There’s to be no spot in the men’s doubles main event for Dean Shu and Nathan Xu after the pair from New Zealand failed to keep up with India’s Amalraj Anthony and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in a one-way affair (11-6, 11-2, 11-7).
Elsewhere, the highly impressive German partnership of Benedikt Duda and Qiu Dang have opened their campaign with a win, beating Chinese Taipei’s Huang Chien-Tu and Yeh Chih-Wei by a 3-1 margin (11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8).
Late comeback denied
Women’s Doubles: Preliminary Round
The mixed association combination of Wales’ Charlotte Carey and Australia’s Stephanie Xu Sang came close to pulling off a comeback victory in their preliminary round meeting with Lin Ye and Yu Mengyu, but narrowly missed out as the Singapore pair squeezed through by the skin of their teeth (11-8, 11-4, 4-11, 9-11, 11-9).
Another tie that went the full distance saw France’s Laura Gasnier and Audrey Zarif get the better of Hong Kong’s Mak Tze Wing and Zhu Chengzhu (5-11, 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8).
Australian duo turn up the heat
Mixed Doubles: Preliminary Round
The sole mixed doubles encounter across the two-day qualification tournament has produced a moment of delight for the host nation with Australia’s Kane Townsend and Jee Minhyung outclassing French opponents Alexandre Robinot and Audrey Zarif in straight games (11-7, 12-10, 11-6).
Action begins!
Here’s the schedule for day two of the qualification tournament in Geelong:
