Sam Walker gave world No 28 Masataka Morizono a fright as he enjoyed some eye-catching results at the Korean Open.

The 20-year-old Worksop player, currently ranked 204 in the world, led his illustrious Japanese opponent 2-1 in the Men’s Singles last 32 tie before Morizono upped his game to win 4-2.

Walker had earned his crack at Morizono by defeating world No 129 Abdel-Kader Salifou 4-2 in the previous round in Incheon.

In the Under-21 Singles, Walker made it through two preliminary rounds before being defeated 3-1 by world No 79 Woojin Jang of Korea in the last 16.

He and partner Omer Avi-Tal of Panama were beaten in the first preliminary round of the Men’s Doubles by a pair from the host country.

Results

 

Men’s Singles
First preliminary round
Sam Walker bt Minseo Oh (KOR) 4-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4)

Second preliminary round
Walker bt Abdel-Kader Salfiou (FRA) 4-2 (11-3, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-5)

Round of 32
Masataka Morizono (JPN) bt Walker 4-2 (9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3, 11-1, 11-4)

Under-21 Men’s Singles
First preliminary round
Walker bt Inhyeok Choi (KOR) 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-2)

Second preliminary round
Walker bt Yuto Kizukuri (JPN) 3-1 (5-11, 11-5, 13-11, 11-5)

Round of 16
Woojin Jang (KOR) bt Walker 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 13-11, 12-10)

Men’s doubles
First preliminary round
Minhyuck Cheon & Saehyuk Joo (KOR) bt Walker & Omer Avi-Tal (PAN) 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-5)

Paul Stimpson
July 8, 2015