MIXED DOUBLES
Top ranked Chinese mixed doubles pair of Lin Shidong and Kuai Man started off the proceedings at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall with a straight games win over Liam Pitchford of England, who partnered Anna Hursey from Wales, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 in the round of 64.
The first upset of the championships was witnessed, with the Italian pair of Niagol Stoyanov and Giorgia Piccolin taking out the 12th seeded Romanian pair of Eduard Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs 15-13,11-7,13-11 to move into the next round.
In an all-African affair, the Nigerian pair of Olajide Omotayo and Kabirat Ayoola managed to come from behind to defeat the Egyptian pair of Mahmoud Helmy and Hend Fathy in one of the most exhilarating matches of the morning session. Down two games, they fought back to level the match, and prevailed 11-7 in the deciding game.
The evening session saw some close encounters, with No. 3 seeded Hong Kong, China mixed doubles pairing of Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem squandered a two games lead and allowed the Pang Koen and Ser Lin Qian to level the match before prevailing over the Singaporean pair 9-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 3-11.
Another fierce encounter was between the Australian-Canadian pair, represented by Nicholas Lum and Ivy Liao, and no. 13 seed Lubomir Pistej and Tatian Kukulkova of Slovekia. The Slovekian pair won the match 11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-6 to move to the next round.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
The Women’s doubles event kicked off with the giant killing Indian pairing of Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee surviving a scare against Turkish pair Ozge Yilmaz and Ece Harac. Trailing 1-2, the Indians managed to hold their nerve and win the next 2 games to progress to the next round.
12th seeded Yashaswini Ghorpade and Diya Chitale joined compatriots Ayhika and Sutirtha in the Round of 32, as they defeated Markhabo Magdieva and Asel Erkebaeva of Uzbekistan with a 3-1 scoreline.
The first upset in the women’s doubles came towards the end of the day, when the Croatian pair of Mateja Jeger and Lea Rakovac upset No. 13 seeded Romanian pair of Elizabeta Samara and Andreea Dragoman. The Croatian pair came from behind after losing the first two games before fighting back to take the match 5-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 12-10.
MEN’S DOUBLES
The Men’s doubles draw enjoyed its share of thrillers, with Mohamed Elbeiali and Youseff Abdelaziz of Egypt coming back from the brink to win 3-2 against the unfancied Swiss pair of Yoan Rebetez and Chaitanya Vepa.
Iranian teen sensation Benyamin Faraji, alongside compatriot Amirmahdi Keshavarzi, made a strong start to his campaign, winning 3-2 (13-15, 13-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8) against the Kazakh pairing of Aidos Kenzhigulov and Sanzhar Zhubanov.
Both the Chinese pairs of Liang Jingkun/Huang Youzheng and Lin Shidong/Lin Gaoyuan kickstarted their campaigns with dominating straight set victories over Edward Ly/Simeon Martin (Canada) and Carlo Rossi/John Oyebode (Italy) respectively.
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Defending champion and world no. 1 Sun Yingsha (China) won her first round match in straight sets, defeating Ukrainian Veronika Matiunina 11-5, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7.
Australian teenager Constantina Psihogios put up an incredible fight, but narrowly lost out to veteran chopper Suh Hyo Won (Republic of Korea) in a tense 2-4 (11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 5-11, 10-12, 4-11) encounter. Psihogios displayed maturity beyond her years as she posed serious questions to Won’s usually infallible defensive play to take a 2-0 lead. However, Won regrouped well, using her experience to see the match through.
Portuguese southpaw Jieni Shao survived the defensive wall of Chang Li Sian (Malaysia), winning 4-2 (8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8) in a marathon match that was mentally and physically taxing for both players.
Japanese stars Satsuki Odo and Mima Ito got off to flying starts, winning 4-0 in their opening matches against Paulina Vega (Chile) and Brianna Burgos (Puerto Rico) respectively.
Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut effected the first upset in the women’s singles, taking down no. 25 seed Sreeja Akula of India. She made light work of a tough opponent, and booked her place in the round of 64 with a 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-5, 11-2 victory.
In another upset, Sibel Altinkaya (Turkey) won a thriller against No. 32 seed Xiaona Shan (Germany). Trailing 1-3, Altinkaya played some of the best table tennis of her career to win 4-3 (11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4) to advance to the next round.
MEN’S SINGLES
The host nation had its first win, as home hope Mohammed Abdulwahhab (Pictured at top) secured a historic straight games victory to beat New Zealand’s Alfred Dela Pena. Facing a player ranked almost 200 places above him, Abdulwahhab dominated from the get go, riding on the energy of a supportive crowd to advance to the next round.
No. 10 seed Dang Qiu survived a massive scare against Croatian Filip Zeljko, winning 4-3 (11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-8) in a topsy turvy match. The German pen holder will breathe a sigh of relief to have got through the tricky Zeljko.
No. 17 seed An Jaehyun (Republic of Korea) won a tough seven setter against Joao Monteiro of Portugal. After being 1-3 down, Monteiro levelled the match 3-3 but the An held his nerves to win the deciding game 11-9 to seal the match in his favour.
The first upset in the men’s singles was that of no. 30 seed Finn Luu from Australia. He was knocked out in straight sets 4-0 by Iulian Chirita of Romania.
French superstars Felix and Alexis Lebrun made winning starts to their campaigns, demolishing Lubomir Pistej (Slovakia) and Kokou Fanny (Togo) with straight set scorelines to advance to the round of 64.
Australian teenager Aditya Sareen got out on the winning side of a trans-Tasmanian encounter against Dean Shu (New Zealand). In a match that constantly swung in momentum, Sareen won 11-9 in the deciding game, edging out a heartbroken Shu by the barest of margins.
Another top German survived a scare, as No. 8 seed Patrick Franziska dug deep to see off an in-form Liao Cheng-Ting (Chinese Taipei) in seven tight games. Franziska, yet to clinch a major singles medal, was visibly relieved as he won 11-7 in the deciding game.
In one of the final matches of the day, World No. 2 Wang Chuqin began his title charge, as he made light work of Nandan Naresh (United States of America). Chuqin, in typical dominating fashion, romped home to a 4-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-2, 11-4) win as he looks to become a World Champion for the firs time.
As the adrenaline-fueled first day wrapped up, the championships are set to become even more thrilling in the days ahead, with electrifying action unfolding in Doha.
