Only two English players remain in the Austrian Open after the first day of action.
England women’s No 1 & 2 Tin-Tin Ho and Maria Tsaptsinos were both knocked out in Preliminary Round 1 after 4-0 defeats at the ITTF World Tour in Linz.
Ho, world ranked (WR) 105, lost out to WR 106 Hyo Sim Cha (PRK), while Tsaptsinos (WR 203) was eliminated by Ukraine’s Tetyana Bilenko (WR 98).
In the Men’s Singles, Andrew Baggaley had a fierce fight against the home nation’s Simon Pfeffer in Preliminary Round 1. With just one game left to play, it was even at 3-3, but after a nail-biting decider, Baggaley eventually pulled through to take it 17-15. To watch the match in full, click here.
Baggaley, world ranked 308, was later knocked out in Preliminary Round 2 by world ranked 29, Yuya Oshima (JPN). Despite 279 ranking places being between the pair, Baggaley narrowly missed out on progressing after a topsy-turvy match that ended 4-3 to Oshima (11-4, 4-11, 11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-7).
Both Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford made it through Preliminary Round 2.
Drinkhall beat Hungary’s Bence Majoros 4-3, while Pitchford was progressed after his opponent, Frane Kojic (CRO), pulled out due to an injury. Pitchford was up 2-1 and leading 6-2 in the fourth game when Kojic had to withdraw from the competition.
To watch Drinkhall’s match, click here, or to catch up with Pitchford’s, click here.
Tomorrow, Drinkhall will take on Jang Woojin (KOR), while Pitchford plays Aliaksandr Khanin (BLR). Both matches will be played at 11.30am UK time. Drinkhall’s match can be watched live on the ITTF website on table one.
The English duo are also competing in the Men’s Doubles. They will play India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta & Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in preliminary round 1 at 3.25pm UK time.
The pair will be hoping to make it through to the main draw action, which begins on Thursday.
Results
Women’s Singles
Preliminary Round 1
Cha Hyo Sim (PRK) bt Tin-Tin Ho 4-0 (11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 9-11)
Tetyana Bilenko (UKR) bt Maria Tsaptsinos 4-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6)
Men’s Singles
Preliminary Round 1
Andrew Baggaley bt Simon Pfeffer (AUT) 4-3 (7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 11-3, 17-15)
Preliminary Round 2
Paul Drinkhall bt Bence Majoros (HUN) 4-3 (11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 9-11, 11-9)
Liam Pitchford bt Frane Kojic (CRO) 4-INJ (16-18, 11-6, 11-5, 11-2 11-0)
Yuya Oshima (JPN) bt Andrew Baggaley 4-3 (11-4, 4-11, 11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-7
Wednesday, November 7
Preliminary Round 3
Paul Drinkhall vs Jang Woojin (KOR) – 11.30am UK time, table 1
Liam Pitchford vs Aliaksandr Khanin (BLR) – 11.30am UK time, table 5
Men’s Doubles
Preliminary Round 1
Drinkhall & Pitchford vs Sharath Kamal Achanta & Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) – 15.25 UK time, table 7