Moreover, for one player in particular it was back down to earth; China’s Wang Yidi who had won the women’s singles title the previous week in Hong Kong fell by the wayside.

Men’s Singles

………..Japan’s Yuya Oshima, the leading name on qualification duty, secured his main draw place; he beat Korea Republic’s Choi Deokhwa (11-9, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7).

………..China’s Sun Wen caused a major third preliminary round upset. Listed at no.599 on the current men’s world rankings, he overcame Egypt’s Omar Assar, named at no.65 in five games (13-15, 12-10, 11-3, 11-4, 11-8).

…………Japan’s Yuki Hirano was very much the man in form in the third preliminary round. He beat Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia in five games (11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5, 12-10). Yuki Hirano is listed at no.126 on the men’s world rankings, Tiago Apolonia at no.43.

………..Germany’s Ruwen Filus beat India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (11-8, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8), at no.24 on the current men’s world rankings, the second highest rated player on qualification stage duty. Ruwen Filus is presently listed at no.83 in the world order

Women’s Singles

………..Winner in 2017, China’s Sun Yingsha accounted for Portugal’s Shao Jieni (11-2, 11-1, 5-11, 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4) to book her place in the main draw.

………..Hong Kong’s Lee Ho Ching came back from the brink; in the third preliminary round she saved match point after match point before eventually overcoming Korea Republic’s Kim Hayeong (11-9, 13-15, 11-6, 10-12, 6-11, 16-14, 11-7).

………..Successful four days earlier in Hong Kong, Wang Yidi was beaten in the third preliminary round by Chinese national team colleague, Wu Yang (11-7, 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9).

………..Japanese teenagers excelled, both Myuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki reserved their main draw places. Miyuu Kihara beat Hong Kong’s Zhu Chengzhu (11-9, 11-7, 13-11, 11-5), Miyu Nagasaki accounted for Hungary’s Szandra Pergel (12-10, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9).

Men’s Doubles

………..Puerto Rico’s Brian Afanador and Daniel Gonzalez excelled. They accounted for Korea Republic’s Kim Daewoo and Kim Donghyun (11-9, 11-7, 11-9) to book their main draw place.

Women’s Doubles

……….. Japan’s Haruna Ojio and Yumeno Soma used their defensive skills to good effect to reserve their main draw place. They beat Serbia’s Sabina Surjan and Izabela Lupulesku (9-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8).

Mixed Doubles

……….. A pairing to note, Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata had beaten Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez and Melanie Diaz (11-8, 11-7, 11-9) to reserve their main draw place.