Liam Pitchford is into the main draw at the Czech Open following two Men’s Singles victories today.
The England No 1 saw off Hungary’s world No 137 Tamas Lakatos 4-1 in the third preliminary round, followed by victory in four straight over South Korean Kim Minhyeok (#150) in the final qualifying stage.
It means he joins the top 16 seeds in the last 32 of the event, where he will face Kristian Karlsson of Sweden at 2.10pm UK time on Thursday.
Sam Walker had a tough task in the third preliminary round in Olomouc as he was up against world No 53 Daniel Habesohn of Austria. And although Walker closed from 2-0 down to level at 2-2, Habesohn exterted his class to take the fifth and sixth games and complete victory.
Pitchford & Paul Drinkhall started their doubles campaign with Lakatos again on the other side of the table to Pitchford. He and partner Jordy Piccolin of Italy won the first game but were then swept aside as the English pair advanced. Walker & David McBeath also went through 3-1 against Japanese pair Tomoya Fujimura & Yusuke Sadamatsu.
However, both English pairs were eliminated in the second and final preliminary round later this evening.
In the Women’s Doubles, Tin-Tin Ho, playing alongside Charlotte Carey of Wales, had a close 3-0 win over Austrian duo Karoline Mischek & Amelie Solja, but found Germany’s Petrissa Solja & Sabine Winter too strong in the next round.
Results
Men’s Singles
Preliminary Round 3
Liam Pitchford bt Tamas Lakatos (HUN) 4-1 (11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5)
Daniel Habesohn (AUT) bt Sam Walker 4-2 (11-5, 11-3, 10-12, 5-11, 11-4, 11-4)
Preliminary Round 4
Pitchford bt Kim Minhyeok (KOR) 4-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9)
Men’s Doubles
Preliminary Round 1
Liam Pitchford & Paul Drinkhall bt Tamas Lakatos (HUN) & Jordy Piccolin (ITA) 3-1 (10-12, 11-8, 11-1, 11-8)
Sam Walker & David McBeath bt Tomoya Fujimura & Yusuke Sadamatsu (JPN) 3-1 (6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9)
Preliminary Round 2
Vladimir Sidorenko & Grigory Vlasov (RUS) bt Pitchford & Drinkhall 3-1 (11-9, 14-16, 12-10, 11-7)
Robin Devos (BEL) & Lubomir Pistej (SVK) bt Walker & McBeath 3-0 (11-5, 13-11, 12-10)
Women’s Doubles
Preliminary Round 1
Tin-Tin Ho & Charlotte Carey (WAL) bt Karoline Mischek & Amelie Solja (AUT) 3-0 (12-10, 13-11, 11-6)
Preliminary Round 2
Petrissa Solja & Sabine Winter (GER) bt Ho & Carey 3-0 (11-4, 11-2, 11-5)