African hopes take a hit

With Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna gaining automatic entry to the men’s singles Round of 32 the question was whether Egypt’s Omar Assar could join his fellow African in the main event? – The answer was no.

Establishing an early lead in his final qualification fixture but Omar Assar failed to pick up another game as Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic made the perfect response, winning four games in a row to seal the victory (6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5).

Swedish stars qualify

Against the odds Sweden’s Jon Persson has qualified for the men’s singles draw in Hong Kong, inflicting a surprise 4-1 defeat upon his significantly higher ranked opponent from Austria, Daniel Habesohn (11-8, 8-11, 14-12, 11-6, 12-10). Truls Moregard also saw off notable opposition, earning an impressive six games victory over Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu (13-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-2, 1-11, 11-7).

“It was a good win and both of us performed well in the match. This is the first time I have played in Hong Kong. There were many spectators watching the match and the atmosphere was great. I really enjoy playing here.” Truls Moregard

Home delight

With the back of the home crowd Minnie Soo Wai Yam has successfully qualified for the women’s singles event, beating Korea Republic’s Choi Hyojoo across six games (11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9).

“I am happy that I won the match and I’m satisfied with my overall performance. The atmosphere and support from all the Hong Kong citizens was awesome! I truly believed they provided luck and power to me to win the match.” Minnie Soo Wai Yam

What a comeback!

While Polina Mikhailova’s campaign may be over, for fellow Russian compatriot Yana Noskova the journey continues after pulling off a sensational comeback in her preliminary round three encounter.

Trailing by a 0-3 games deficit Yana Noskova won four games on the bounce to emerge victorious over Romanian star Elizabeta Samara 4-3 (12-14, 9-11, 8-11, 14-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9).

Brave effort but Polina Mikhailova missed out

Russia’s Polina Mikhailova has missed out on the opportunity to compete in the main draw of the women’s singles event, falling to China’s Wang Yidi across six games in the third preliminary round (11-9, 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3).

Another Chinese representative joining Wang Yidi in the main event is Sun Mingyang following her straight games win against Slovak Republic’s Barbora Balazova (11-8, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7).

Czech stars complete stunning recovery

Tomas Polansky and Pavel Sirucek have qualified for the men’s doubles event after the Czech duo completed a fine comeback from 1-2 down to topple China’s Wang Chuqin and Xue Fei by a 3-2 score-line (11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7).

For Hong Kong there was defeat as Kwan Man Ho and Li Hon Ming lost out to France’s Tristan Flore and Emmanuel Lebesson (10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 10-12, 11-3).

Positives and negatives for Spain

Maria Xiao will represent Spain in the women’s doubles draw but it comes at a cost for her country as she and Canadian partner Zhang Mo had to eliminate the Spanish pair of Galia Dvorak and Liu Xin on their way success (11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7).

We also lost the highly capable doubles pairing of Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz and Melanie Diaz, who fell at the hands of Thailand’s Orawan Paranang and Suthasini Sawettabut (6-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8).

Huge comeback display from Serbian pair

Down 0-2 in the second preliminary round, Serbia’s Aleksandar Karakasevic and Izabela Lupulesku showed great character to fight their way back to a 3-2 victory over the Czech duo of Tomas Polansky and Hana Matelova (7-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5).

Success for Aleksandar Karakasevic and Izabela Lupulesku sees them reserve their spot in the main draw.

Chuang Chih-Yuan defeated!

One of the biggest names involved in qualification action but Chuang Chih-Yuan has missed out on the opportunity to compete at the main event with the Chinese Taipei player losing out to up-and-coming German star Qiu Dang in straight games (11-6, 15-13, 11-4, 11-8).

Another German victory came courtesy of Ricardo Walther, who stormed to a 4-0 success against Andrea Landrieu of France (11-4, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6).

Chinese duo prevail

Ma Te and Zhou Yu have moved one step closer to the main draw with the Chinese competitors successfully negotiating preliminary round two.

Fighting back from two games down Ma Te held the upper hand in his encounter against Russia’s Kirill Skachkov (6-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-1, 12-10, 11-9) while Zhou Yu needed just five games to see off Italy’s Mihai Bobocica (11-7, 12-10, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6).

Truls Moregard moves through

An exciting young prospect for Swedish table tennis, Truls Moregard has progressed to the third and final round of men’s singles qualification after posting a notable 4-2 win in his meeting with Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia (11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 11-4).

Indians impress

India’s Amalraj Anthony has pulled off one of the biggest upsets of his career to date in Hong Kong, recovering from a 1-3 games deficit to see off Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An by a 4-3 margin (11-7, 7-11, 7-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8). Sathiyan Gnanasekaran also guided India to victory in the second preliminary round, beating Hungarian opponent Adam Szudi across five games (7-11, 11-8, 11-2, 13-11, 11-2).

Elsewhere, there was a surprise win for Paul Drinkhall as the Englishman emerged victorious over Japan’s Masataka Morizono in a seven-game thriller (11-6, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11, 8-11, 15-13).

Pan American progress

Canada’s Zhang Mo, Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz and Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi all negotiated the second women’s singles preliminary round in some style.

Zhang Mo beat Sweden’s Christina Källberg (18-16, 14-16, 11-9, 12-10, 7-11, 11-8), Adriana Diaz accounted for India’s Ayhika Mukherjee (11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6); Bruna Takahashi ended the hopes of Croatia’s Mateja Jeger (7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 12-10, 7-11, 11-3).

Miyu Kato makes intentions clear

Japan’s Miyu Kato, winner earlier in the year at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Spanish Open and quarter-finalist at the recent Liebherr 2019 World Championships, the leading name on women’s singles qualification duty in Hong Kong, made her intentions crystal clear.

In her opening contest she beat Spain’s Galia Dvorak in four straight games (11-4, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8).

Europeans enjoy success

There were notable successes for European players as the matters progressed in the second women’s singles preliminary round.

Sweden’s Linda Bergström beat Russia’s Olga Vorobeva (18-16, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 13-11), Hungary’s Georgina Pota accounted for Thailand’s Orawan Paranang (11-7, 11-5, 11-7, 11-6), Romania’s Elizabeta Samara ended the hopes of Hong Kong’s Lam Yee Lok. Earlier in the day, the Czech Republic’s Hana Matelova had ousted Chinese Taipei’s Li Yu-Jhun (11-6, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7).

Disappointment for Hong Kong

The host association’s Mak Tze Wing Chau Wing Sze both experienced second women’s singles preliminary round defeats.

Chau Wing Sze was beaten by Russia’s Yana Noskova (11-9, 11-3, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9); Mak Tze Wing lost to Korea Republic’s Kim Hayeong (11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6, 13-11). The name of Kim Hayeong may not be familiar, as Li Yiran she was a member of the Chinese junior team

Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour, Hang Seng Hong Kong Open: Qualification Schedule – Tuesday 4th & Wednesday 5th May