Liam Pitchford launched a storming comeback to book a place in the main draw of the Austrian Open today, but Paul Drinkhall was on the receiving end of a fightback and went out.
Pitchford trailed 2-0 and 3-1 to world No 59 Andrej Gacina of Croatia in the fourth and final preliminary round, but turned it around in style, winning the next three 5, 4, 5 to join the top seeds in the last 32, where he will face Japan’s Jun Mizutani, the 11th seed. The match is at 2pm UK time on Table 1 and can be watched live on itTV (registration required).
In the previous round, Pitchford romped to an emphatic victory over Yaroslav Zhmudenko of Ukraine, allowing his opponent only 16 points across the four games played.
Drinkhall led 3-0 against Chinese opponent Zhou Yu (WR 112) in the third preliminary round, only to see his opponent fight his way back into the match and ultimately go on to win 4-3, taking the decider 11-8.
Click here to watch Drinkhall v Zhou (registration required).
Drinkhall, alongside Sam Walker, then had the reverse experience in the doubles as they came from 2-0 down to defeat South Korea’s An Jaehyun & Jang Woojin 3-2 to reach the last 16. There, they will play the sixth seeds, Chen Chien-An & Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei. The match is on Table 3 at 10.45am tomorrow, live on itTV.
Click here to watch Drinkhall & Walker v An & Jang (registration required).
In the Women’s Singles, Tin-Tin Ho was knocked out by world No 52 Miyuu Kihara of Japan in five games in the third preliminary round.
However, she and doubles partnber Karoline Mischek of Austria, the European Under-21 champions, reached the last 16 with a four-game victory over Polish paur Natalia Najor & Natalia Partyka. They play Barbora Balazova of Slovakia & Hana Matelova of Czech Republic, the third seeds, at 12.45pm UK time tomorrow, on Table 1 and can again be watched live on itTV.
Results
Men’s Singles
Preliminary round 3
Zhou Yu (CHN) bt Paul Drinhall 4-3 (10-12, 8-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8)
Liam Pitchford bt Yaroslav Zhmudenko (UKR) 4-0 (11-1, 11-3, 11-4, 11-8)
Preliminary round 4
Pitchford bt Andrej Gacina (CRO) 4-3 (11-13, 9-11, 11-4, 5-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-5)
Women’s Singles
Preliminary round 3
Miyuu Kihara (JPN) bt Tin-Tin Ho 4-1 (11-6, 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6)
Men’s Doubles
Preliminary round 1
Paul Drinkhall & Sam Walker bt An Jaehyun & Jang Woojin (KOR) 3-2 (8-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6)
Women’s Doubles
Preliminary round 1
Tin-Tin Ho & Karoline Mischek (AUT) bt Natalia Bajor & Natalia Partyka (POL) 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4)