Serbian quartet upsets the odds

The lowest rated players in their respective opening phase groups, the host nation’s Dimitrije Levajac, Stefan Kostadinovic and Marko Popovic alongside Nikola Strugarevic all caused upsets in their opening matches.

Dimitrije Levajac beat Slovenia’s Tilen Cvetko (13-11, 13-111, 12-10), Stefan Kostadinovic overcame Croatia’s Tomislav Kolarek (12-10, 7-11, 13-11, 11-9). Likewise Marko Popovic accounted for India’s Mudit Dani (11-2, 11-8, 11-5); Nikola Strugarevic eventually proved too strong for Kazakhstan’s Timur Kelbuganov (11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8).

Fine start for host nation

The host nation’s Sabina Surjan and Tijana Jokic both made successful starts to their campaigns.

Sabina Surjan beat Slovakia’s Ema Labosova (11-4, 11-3, 11-6), Tijana Jokic accounted for Kazakhstan’s Zauresh Akasheva (5-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7).

Lev Katsman maintains form

Elevated to second spot on the under 18 boys’ world rankings, the winner earlier this year on the ITTF World Junior Circuit in Bahrain and France, Russia’s Lev Katsman opened his account by beating Norway’s Adrian Wetzel (11-7, 11-7, 11-7).

Likewise, there was success for Nicolas Burgos, the runner up on home soil earlier this year at the 2019 Chile Junior and Cadet Open, he beat Nikita Artemenko (11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 13-11). Additionally, there was a good start for the host nation, Dimitrije Levajac accounted for Slovakia’s Daniel Orac (11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-8).