England no.1 Liam Pitchford equalled his best ITTF World Tour performance by reaching the last 16 of the Men’s Singles at the Czech Open.
The 20-year-old was seeded for the Men’s draw and took full advantage of his position by beating Czech player Bohumil Vozicky 4-1 before upsetting Austria’s Stefan Fegerl (world ranked 82) 4-3 in a thrilling last 32 encounter.
It was a reprise of the youngster’s performance at the 2011 English Open where he defeated the Austrian in seven games to advance through the qualifying group when he was ranked over 100 places below his opponent.
He now has the opportunity to make his first World Tour quarter-final when he faces Czech world no. 112, Pavel Sirucek, live on itTV at 13:45 on Saturday.
Ironically the current English Champion also faces Sirucek in the Men’s Under-21s quarter-final on Saturday morning as the duo meet head-to-head in an important double header in Olomouc.
Pitchford was also in action in the Men’s Doubles where he and Belarussian partner Pavel Platonov made the last 32 where they were defeated by Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND) and Ricardo Walther (GER).
ITTF World Tour Czech Open (Olomouc, August 21-25th)
Men’s Singles:
Last 64:
Liam Pitchford bt Bohumil Vozicky (CZE, ur) 4-1 (11-6, 15-13, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8)
Last 32:
Liam Pitchford bt Stefan Fegerl (AUT, 82) 4-3 (15-13, 11-13, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 4-11, 11-9)
Last 16:
Liam Pitchford vs Pavel Sirucek (CZE, 112) 1:45pm itTV
Men’s Under-21s:
Last 32:
Liam Pitchford bt Martin Allegro (BEL, 656) 3-1 (11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4)
Last 16:
Liam Pitchford bt Hunor Szocs (ROU, 225) 3-1 (11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6)
Quarter-Final:
Liam Pitchford vs Pavel Sirucek (CZE, 112) 09:45
Men’s Doubles:
Pre-rounds:
Liam Pitchford/Pavel Platonov (BLR) bt Felipe Olivares/Matias Contreras (CHI) 3-2 (11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 8-11, 13-11)
Last 32:
Liam Pitchford/Pavel Platonov (BLR) bt SK Achanta (IND)/Ricardo Walther (GER) 3-2 (11-9, 10-12, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7)
Written by Russell Moore (August 24, 2013)