Seven-game thriller
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
Taking home Kazakhstan’s first-ever international men’s singles title last month at the 2020 ITTF Challenge Spanish Open, Kirill Gerassimenko needed the full seven games to pull through his opening round meeting in Doha.
Behind by 0-2 on the scoreboard Gerassimenko showed great courage to mount a fantastic comeback, beating Croatia’s Wei Shihao 4-3 (9-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8). Over on table no.1, China’s Xu Chenhao accounted for Austria’s Stefan Fegerl across five games (11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7).
Zhou Qihao moves through
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
Moving through to the second preliminary round in the men’s singles qualification draw, China’s Zhou Qihao negotiated a tricky encounter against Belarusian opponent Aliaksandr Khanin 4-1 (11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11).
Elsewhere, Belgium’s Martin Allegro outclassed Turkish counterpart Ibrahim Gündüz 4-0 (11-8, 11-9, 15-13, 14-12) with Spain’s Alvaro Robles, Hungary’s Bence Majoros and Serbia’s Aleksandar Karakasevic all prevailing in their respective fixtures.
Difficult round for host nation
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
The two Qatari player competing in the 5.30pm session both tasted defeat and with it an opening stage elimination in Doha. Mohammed Abdulwahhab was seen off in straight games by Uzbekistan’s Zokhid Kenjaev on table no.1 (11-4, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6) while Fahed Almughanne suffered the same fate in his meeting with India’s Amalraj Anthony (11-5, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7).
Only two further encounters scheduled for the session were played out as Russia’s Kirill Skachkov and France’s Tristan Flore accounted for Iraq’s Ameer Al-Nuaimi (11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 11-2) and Hong Kong China’s Ng Pak Nam (11-4, 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9) respectively.
World Junior champion run close!
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
A tight affair which required the full seven-game distance to find a winner, China’s Xiang Peng has survived a gruelling preliminary round one contest against French opponent Can Akkuzu (11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-3, 13-15, 11-6) to extend his stay in the men’s singles race.
Duda progresses in style
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
Benedikt Duda was in imperious mood against India’s Jeet Chandra, as he beat the Asian in straight games (11-3, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7) in under 22 minutes.
Moregard in dramatic comeback victory!
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
Swedish prodigy Truls Moregard was in action against China’s Fang Bo and it was all about the fiery shots here at the Aspire Academy, with the match going to a seventh game decider. Eventually, Moregard came out on top, winning 4-3 (11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 12-10) in a 54 minute epic.
“I feel amazing, it was really nice to win this match. We both won some tough game but in the end when I manage to stay calm and make some really good points I won, I’m really happy. It’s one of the best win of my career so far. He is still unbelivably good even though his World Ranking has dropped. I’m just really happy. Before playing in the Japanese league, you have a lot of respect for these players but practicing with these top players it helps to make lower that feeling and can play more freely” Truls Moregard
Germany’s Ricardo Walther meanwhile had to deal with the challenge of Chew Zhe Yu Clarence, winning 4-2 (11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7) after the Singaporean gave him a serious run for his money.
The Lion Roars!
Opening wins for Chinese duo
Men’s Singles: Preliminary Round One
China’s Yan An and Zhou Yu started the proceedings in Doha with major wins against India’s Harmeet Desai and Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu respectively.
Yan An needed no more than 38 minutes to see off the Indian, winning 4-1 (11-6, 10-12, 13-11, 11-5, 11-9). For Zhou Yu, it was more of a contest as he beat his European opponent 4-2 (8-11, 8-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-5, 11-3).
