Furthermore, to add salt into the wound, younger brother Kazuhiro emerged successful in his opening round men’s singles contest as well as in the men’s doubles partnering Yukiya Uda; also, the name of the Maharu Yoshimura does not appear on the mixed doubles entry list, Kasumi Ishikawa partners Tomokazu Harimoto. Maharu Yoshimura look forward to next week in the Czech Republic!

Men’s Singles

………… Maharu Yoshimura was the biggest name to fall, in his opening contest he was beaten by Korea Republic’s Cho Daeseong (8-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6). Conversely, younger brother Kazuhiro Yoshimura accounted for Belgium’s Florian Cnudde (11-4, 11-3, 12-14, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8).

………… Slovenia’s Bojan Tokic was a major casualty; he lost to Turkey’s Ibrahim Gündüz (5-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 11-4, 11-8);

………..Portugal’s Marcos Freitas and Japan’s Masataka Morizono, the top two names on qualification duty both made successful starts; Marcos Freitas beat Ukraine’s Viktor Yefimov (11-4, 11-3, 11-6, 11-4); Masataka Morizono accounted for colleague Yuma Tsuboi (11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 13-15, 11-8).

…………Three times the runner up in Panagyurishte, Japan’s Kenta Matsudaira commenced matters in a positive manner. He beat compatriot Shogo Tahara (11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-2).

…………Japan’s Hibiki Tazoe won the closest match of the day; he beat Sweden’s Elias Ranefur by the very narrowest of margins (11-5, 5-11, 7-11, 15-13, 3-11, 11-7, 14-12).

Women’s Singles

…………Only 14 years old Japan’s Haruna Ojio stole the limelight; she beat Korea’s Republic’s Choi Hyojoo (11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 13-15, 12-10).

…………A place in the forthcoming Women’s World Cup secured, following her fourth place finish earlier in the year at the CCB Europe Top 16 tournament, Poland’s Natalia Partyka experienced a surprise opening round defeat. She was beaten by Japan’s Airi Abe (7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-7).

…………Russia’s Polina Mikhailova, the winner two days earlier at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Nigeria Open, maintained her good form, she accounted for Hungary’s Orsolya Feher in straight games (11-5, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8).

…………Hungary’s Mercedes Nagyvaradi kept mind, body and soul together to withstand a brave recovery by Chinese Taipei’s Su Pei-Ling before emerging successful in a seven game thriller, determined by the very closest of decisions (11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 9-11, 4-11, 114-4, 15-13).

…………A European defensive player beating an adversary from China, it does not happen that often; Sweden’s Linda Bergström overcame China’s Fan Siqi (5-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3, 11-7).

Men’s Doubles

………… Koki Niwa and Maharu Yoshimura experienced a shock defeat; they lost to China’s Zhao Zihao and Zhu Linfeng (11-4, 11-5, 11-8). On the other side of the coin Yukiya Uda and Kazuhiro Yoshimura overcame Austria’s Alexander Chen and David Serdaroglu (11-6, 11-5, 11-7).

…………Italy’s Mihai Bobocica and Mikhail Paikov excelled; they beat Russia’s Alexey Liventsov and Mikhail Paikov (11-7, 11-7, 11-9), three times winners on the ITTF World Tour.

Women’s Doubles

…………The French pairing of Pauline Chasselin and Laura Gasnier impressed; they accounted for Korea Republic’s Kim Hayeong and Lee Eunhye (11-4, 7-11, 13-11, 11-8).

…………China’s Gu Yuting and Mu Zi sounded warning bells that they could well be contenders for honours; they ended the hopes of the combination formed by Belgium’s Nathalie Marchetti and Iran’s Maryam Samet (8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4).