by Ian Marshall, Editor
Hard fought contestsd but not for the leading names on qualification duty. It was a day to study the opposition; the likes of Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, China’s Zhao Zihao, Portugal’s Marcos Freitas and Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson start their journey on the second day of action.
Five points to note……….
Surprise outcomes
- In the opening round of the men’s singles event, Frenchman Alexandre Cassin no.155 beat Finland’s Benedek Olah no.95 (4-11, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 12-14, 11-7, 12-10).
- Also Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen no.186 overcame Belgium’s Florent Lambiet no.111 (11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10).
- They were results to raise the eyebrows.
Surprise or not
- China’s Yan An no.131 accounted India’s Harmeet Desai no.87 (11-6, 10-12, 13-11, 11-5, 11-9) in the men’s singles first round. Yan An has two ITTF World Tour titles to his credit, he won in Stockholm in 2013 and Budapest in 2017.
- Similarly Serbia’s Zsolt Peto no.174 defeated Mexico’s Marcos Madrid no.76 (4-11, 11-8, 6-11, 13-11, 3-11, 11-5, 11-8). Earlier in the year Zsolt Peto had proved crucial to Serbia’s success at the ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament in Gondomar, gaining a place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
- Likewise China’s Xiang Peng no.120 overcame Frenchman Can Akkuzu no.77 (11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-3, 12-14, 11-6). Xiang Peng is the reigning world junior champion and last December won at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Canada Open.
- Also, China’s Xu Chenhao no.147 ended the hopes of Austria’s Stefan Fegerl no.87 (11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7). Xu Chenhao was the runner up in the men’s singles event at the 2013 ITTF World Tour Japan Open.
Rekindling yesteryear
- Now some two decades ago and more, Sweden enjoyed a history of beating China to become world champions; those memories were rekindled.
- Truls Moregard, no.98 secured an opening round men’s singles win against Fang Bo no.296 (11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 12-10).
Maintaining form
- Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko, no.64 booked his second round men’s singles place. He beat Croatia’s Wei Shihao, no.221 (9-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8).
- Thus he maintained his good form; in early February he won the men’s singles title at the 2020 ITTF Challenge Plus Spanish Open.
Success for Japan
- No current world ranking, in the opening round of the women’s singles event Sakura Yokoi and Haruna Sugita both caused upsets.
- Sakura Yokoi beat Denmark’s Stefanie Christensen, no.247 (11-4, 12-10, 11-2, 11-7); Haruna Sugita accounted for Stéphanie Loeuillette, no.95 (8-11, 3-11, 11-9, 15-13, 12-10, 11-4).
Note: world rankings appear in italics
