Liam Pitchford, Paul Drinkhall and Tin-Tin Ho are through their opening round of the Austrian Open, but Sam Walker and Denise Payet have gone out.

The theee English men entered in the second preliminary round and Pitchford had few problems with the host nation’s Andreas Levenko (WR 159) after taking a tight first game 12-10, pulling away to win in four straight. He next faces Yaroslav Zhmudenko (WR 181) of Ukraine.

Drinkhall needed five against former European youth champion Ioannis Sgouropoulos of Greece (WR 165), also taking a tight first and then opening up a 3-0 lead before Sgouropoulos pulled one back. Drinkhall won the fifth 11-4 and next faces China’s Zhou Yu (WR 112).

However, Walker never got going against South Korea’s Hwang Minha (WR 131) and was defeated in four straight.

Click here to watch Walker v Hwang (registration required)

In the women’s singles, Denise Payet made it through her first preliminary round match against Austria’s Michelle Kases, though she was extended in the fourth and, as it turned out, final game which she won 16-14.

Click here to watch Payet v Kases (registration required)

In the second preliminary round, Payet found Slovakia’s world No 41 Barbora Balazova too strong and was beaten in four straight. Ho entered the competition at the same stage and prevailed 4-2 against Petra Petek of Croatia (WR 400). She next plays Miyuu Kihara of Japan (WR 52).

Results

Men’s Singles
Preliminary round 2
Hwang Minha (KOR) bt Sam Walker 4-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6)
Paul Drinkhall bt Ioannis Sgouropoulos (GRE) 4-1 (14-12, 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-4)
Liam Pitchford bt Andreas Levenko (AUT) 4-0 (12-10, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7)

Women’s Singles
Preliminary round 1
Denise Payet bt Michelle Kases (AUT) 4-0 (11-9, 11-2, 11-5, 16-14)

Preliminary round 2
Tin-Tin Ho bt Petra Petek (CRO) 4-2 (10-12, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4, 8-11, 12-10)
Barbora Balazova (SVK) bt Payet 4-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-4, 11-7)