England No. 1 Liam Pitchford is through to the last 16 of the ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open.
Pitchford, seeded eighth in the tournament, progressed after a 4-0 win over China’s Yu Ziyang.
In the first game, Pitchford saved two match points to take it 12-10. He was then trailing Ziyang in the second until he equalled the score at 8-8, going on to win 11-9.
Pitchford then turned up the pressure to take the third 11-4, shortly followed by an 11-7 win that secured him the match.
To watch the match in full, click here.
He will now face Korea’s Lim Jonghoon today (Friday), who is ranked 17 in the world. The match will be shown live at 6.40pm UK time on the ITTF’s streaming platform, itTV.
To watch it at 6.40pm, click here.
The draw had thrown up the possibility of Pitchford facing world number 2 Xu Xing in the quarter-finals. The pair last met in November, when Xu Xing ended Liam’s superb run at the Austrian Open by beating him 4-0 in the semi-final stage.
Pitchford is the only English player left in the singles after Paul Drinkhall, Sam Walker, David McBeath, Tom Jarvis and Maria Tsaptsinos were knocked out on Monday.
On Tuesday all English players were also knocked out of the doubles.
Drinkhall & Walker were eliminated in Preliminary Round 1 after a 3-0 defeat to France’s Tristan Flore & Emmanuel Lebesson.
Pitchford and partner Cedric Nuytinck (BEL) progressed to Round 2 after a 3-0 win over Aviv Ben-Ari (ISR) & Luka Mladenovic (LUX), but were then knocked out by another French duo – Alexandre Robinot & Joe Seyfried. They lost the match 3-1.
Tsaptsinos partnered Wales’ Charlotte Carey in the Women’s Doubles. The pair progressed to Round 2 after a 3-2 win over Poland’s Natalia Bajor & Natalia Partyka, but then exited at the hands of France’s Laura Gasnier & Carole Grundisch. The pair lost 3-1.
Results
Men’s Singles
Preliminary Round 1
Adam Szudi (HUN) bt David McBeath 4-3 (11-6, 11-7, 5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5)
Stephane Ouaiche (FRA) bt Tom Jarvis 4-1 (11-4, 5-11, 11-5, 11-9, 15-13)
Paul Drinkhall bt Do Phuong Nam (HUN) 4-0 (13-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5)
Marek Badowski bt Sam Walker 4-3 (11-5, 11-13, 11-8, 5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5
Preliminary Round 2
Tiago Apolonia (POR) bt Paul Drinkhall 4-1 (11-6, 8-11,11-7, 11-7, 11-6)
Round of 32
Liam Pitchford bt Yu Ziyang (CHN) 4-0 (12-10, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7)
Women’s Singles
Preliminary Round 1
Alex Galic (SLO) bt Maria Tsaptsinos 4-1 (13-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6)
Mixed Doubles
Preliminary Round 1
Aleksandar Karakasevic & Izabela Lupulesku (SRB) bt Tom Jarvis & Charlotte Carey 3-1 (11-4, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9)
Men’s Doubles
Preliminary Round 1
Tristan Flore & Emmanuel Lebesson (FRA) bt Paul Drinkhall & Sam Walker 3-0 (11-4, 12-10, 11-9)
Liam Pitchford & Cedric Nuytinck (BEL) bt Aviv Ben-Ari (ISR) & Luka Mladenovic (LUX) 3-0 (11-3, 11-0, 11-6)
Preliminary Round 2
Alexandre Robinot & Joe Seyfried (FRA) bt Pitchford & Nuytinck (BEL) 3-1 (11-8, 11-7, 3-11, 11-8)
Women’s Doubles
Preliminary Round 1
Maria Tsaptsinos & Charlotte Carey bt Natalia Bajor & Natalia Partyka (POL) 3-2 (11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8)
Preliminary Round 2
Tsaptsinos & Carey bt Laura Gasnier & Carole Grundisch 3-1 (11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8)