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Listed at no.75 on the current men’s world rankings, only three lower rated players progressed to the main draw; one such name was that of China’s Xu Chenhao, presently standing at no.142 in the global order. Runner up at the 2013 ITTF World Tour Japan Open, I suggest he might be rather higher than his status suggests, if subjected to more international play.
The other two names to raise the eyebrows were Croatia’s Frane Kojic, listed at no.98 and India’s Amalraj Anthony at no.105. Thus it was a notable success for the player who quite by chance had found himself partnering Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu at the 2018 ITTF World Tour Kaisa China Open and had recorded a sensational semi-final win against China’s Ma Long and Xu Xin, before last year being runners up at the Liebherr 2019 World Championships in Budapest.
Architect
In doubles, very much Alvaro Robles is the architect, left handed, supple wrists, excellent over the table, it is that skill, just like fellow left handers Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju, Japan’s Jun Mizutani or from a previous era, China’s Chen Qi that makes him so effect for a right handed partner who exerts power.
It also makes Alvaro Robles most effective when alone; his high level of skill when returning service was a key factor in his success as he beat higher rated players to reserve his main draw place.
On the second day of qualification, he accounted for Hungary’s Bence Majoros (8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3) followed by success in opposition to India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4).
Notably on the current men’s world rankings, Bence Majoros is listed at no.70, having the previous month been at no.59; Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is at no.30.
Korea Republic
On the 2019 ITTF World Tour in Korea Republic, he reached the second round losing to China’s Fan Zhendong; just one slight problem, he cannot meet the player he beat in the opening round in Busan, he has already beaten him, he accounted for Sathiyan Gnanasekaran!
In Doha, the recently crowned English champion for the sixth time awaits, Liam Pitchford is the first round opponent.
Five points: qualification ends in dramatic style
Five key points to take away from the day’s exploits.
Doubles master holds his own
Pulling off arguably the standout achievement of his career last year alongside Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu with their men’s doubles silver medal at the Liebherr 2019 World Championships, Spain’s Alvaro Robles showed on the final day of qualifying in Doha that he can hold his own on the individual scene.
Starting his day with a 4-2 win over Hungarian opponent Bence Majoros (8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3), Robles then preceded to claim a major upset against world no.30 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4) to seal his spot in the men’s singles draw.
World junior champion upstages World Cup star
Miyu Nagasaki stole headlines at the 2019 World Junior Championships when she became the first player from outside of China to take home the girls’ singles title; on Wednesday the Japanese teenager produced another headline grabbing performance, this time at senior level!
Victorious in an all-Japanese meeting against Maki Shiomi in the morning (13-11, 7-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-6), it was Nagasaki’s outing in the third preliminary round of the women’s singles event that really stood out. Facing the Uncle Pop 2019 Women’s World Cup bronze semi-finalist Lily Zhang, Nagasaki showed maturity beyond her years to upstage the United States’ star by a 4-1 margin (11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5).
Vladi extracts his revenge
Losing out to France’s Alexandre Cassin in one of the big upsets of last month’s ITTF World Tour event in Budapest, Vladimir Samsonov claimed his revenge in Doha on a very positive day for the Belarusian legend.
Just as in their previous encounter only five games were required; only this time fortune favoured the 2015 Qatar Open champion (9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4, 11-3). Later in the day Samsonov also outclassed China’s Zhou Yu (11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-6) to receive his ticket to the main draw.
“There are many possible reasons I won today’s match. Of course after Hungary we tried to find out why we lost and prepared better. It could also be that he didn’t play as well today and I played better. Overall it was still not an easy match” Vladimir Samsonov
Lisbon champions stay in sync
Lauded for their title-winning campaign at the 2020 ITTF Challenge Plus Portugal Open in Lisbon a couple of weeks ago, the French combination of Emmanuel Lebesson and Yuan Jia Nan carried on where they left off.
Just one preliminary round in the mixed doubles qualification event, Lebesson and Yuan needed just one win to qualify and it arrived promptly: needing just over 23 minutes the French duo powered past Belarusian counterparts Aliaksandr Khanin and Daria Trigolos 3-0 (11-5, 13-11, 11-2).
Drinkhall and Pitchford are comeback kings
We wrap up the day’s action with a quite simply incredible match in the men’s doubles category; it saw England’s Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford steal the show!
Trailing Serbia’s Marko Jevtovic and Zsolt Peto 0-2 on the scoreboard, the challenge looked nothing short of perilous for the Englishmen. However, Drinkhall and Pitchford went on to rescue the situation, winning three games on the bounce to earn a sensational 3-2 win (10-12, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5).
“Yeah, very difficult in the beginning. We were trying to find answers but it was like everything that we tried they had answers for. We mixed our game up and tried to get back into it and once we got back into it they started to get a little bit frustrated. Because we changed levels, they were wondering what to do and me managed to keep going.” Paul Drinkhall
“Even at 2-0 we stayed positive and I think that’s what you have to do if you want to turn matches around. Once we got back to 2-2 we got a bit of momentum and in the fifth game we got a good start. I think they lost some belief towards the end.” Liam Pitchford
The New York Rangers will have to make their playoff push without forward Chris Kreider, who is out four to six weeks with a fractured ankle.
Kreider was hurt Friday when he blocked a shot against the Philadelphia Flyers.
"We're obviously hopeful sooner than later," Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton told the NHL Network at the GM meetings in Florida. "But I think with these things, it's weight bearing when you break your foot. I think if you look over time, some of the people who have had the same type of injury, you're looking at four to six weeks as probably realistic.
"I know that Chris is looking at it as is he going to be back sooner. If you see what kind of condition he is, his work ethic, it's hard to bet against him. So hopefully sooner than that, and we'll take one game at a time without him."
New York is 0-2-0 since the 28-year-old Kreider went down. The Rangers will host the Capitals on Thursday, and the regular season ends in a month.
Kreider was seen as the premier trade chip heading into the NHL trade deadline last month, but the Rangers kept him and then signed him to a seven-year contract extension. The deal has an annual average value of $6.5 million.
The Rangers have been in rebuilding mode the past few seasons and then signed Artemi Panarin in the offseason. After a slow start, New York has been surging toward playoff contention. The Rangers are four points out of the second wild card in the East.
Kreider is third on the team with 24 goals. He was on pace to surpass his previous high of 28 goals, which he collected in 2016-17 and again last season. His 45 points had him in range of his career high of 53.
FA Cup quarters: Newcastle-City, Leicester-Chelsea
Defending FA Cup champions Manchester City will visit Newcastle United while Leicester City will host Chelsea in the quarterfinals of the competition.
- Watch FA Cup matches on ESPN+
Arsenal, who have won the cup a record 13 times, will travel to fellow Premier League side Sheffield United.
Norwich City, which needed penalties to beat Tottenham Hotspur, will welcome the winners of Thursday's clash between Derby County and Manchester United.
The matches will be played across the weekend of March 21-22. The full draw is as follows:
Sheffield United vs. Arsenal
Newcastle United vs. Manchester City
Norwich City vs. Derby County/Manchester United
Leicester City vs. Chelsea
U.S. great Tim Howard to play for club he co-owns
Retirement did not last long for former U.S. national team goalkeeper Tim Howard, who will play for the United Soccer League team that he co-owns.
The 40-year-old former Everton standout announced Wednesday that he will be on the field this season for Memphis 901 in the second-tier USL League Championship, pending league and U.S. Soccer Federation approval. He retired last October at the end of the MLS season, his last with the Colorado Rapids.
"Since my retirement in October, my obsession for football has grown," Howard said in a statement. "The desire to win continues to drive me. I love to play, and I love to compete. This gives me the opportunity to do both.''
In addition to being a non-controlling owner, Howard already was sporting director. Howard has played 21 years in professional soccer, including 13 seasons in the English Premier League with Manchester United and Everton.
He was Premier League goalkeeper of the year in 2004 while with Manchester United. He played the past four seasons with Colorado in MLS and was with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars between 1998 and 2003.
He made 121 appearances with the U.S. national team and was in goal at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
Tottenham Hotspur's Eric Dier lept into the stands to confront a spectator following his club's penalty-shootout loss at Norwich City in FA Cup action on Wednesday.
Images and videos taken in the away supporters' section at Carrow Road show Dier in a heated argument as stadium security guards attempt to break up the fracus.
Spurs manager Jose Mourinho said after the match that a fan had insulted Dier's brother, but didn't approve of his player's reaction.
Eric Dier lept into the stands to confront supporters following Tottenham's penalty-shootout loss at Norwich.
Jose Mourinho said the fans were insulting him and his younger brother got involved.
(via @jselby123) pic.twitter.com/a1uzS71VCQ
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 4, 2020
"This person insulted Eric, this family was there. The young brother was not happy with the situation and then Eric, I repeat did what we professionals cannot do, but did something that probably we would do," Mourinho said.
"I don't think that belongs to the game. The game was a fantastic representation of the FA Cup, but I cannot run away from the question. I think Eric Dier did what we as professionals cannot do but when someone insults you and your family is involved, especially your young brother.
"If the club discipline Eric Dier I would not agree with it, but what he did was wrong."
On if the incident was also based on racist abuse toward a player, Mourinho added: "I cannot say, I don't know. I just know that the reaction of Eric was based on his brother, didn't like what was happening there. I cannot go in that direction with these details."
Norwich keeper Tim Krul saved two spot kicks including the final two from Troy Parrott and Gedson Fernandes to help the Canaries oust Tottenham and advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1992.
Sources: Panthers, Bolts swap OLs Turner, Okung
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers made their first big deal under new coach Matt Rhule, agreeing to trade Pro Bowl right guard Trai Turner to the Los Angeles Chargers for left tackle Russell Okung, league sources told ESPN.
The trade cannot be made official until 4 p.m. ET on March 18, the start of the NFL's new league year.
Turner, who has been selected to five consecutive Pro Bowls, is signed through the 2021 season and is scheduled to count $8.5 million and $11.5 million, respectively, against the salary cap the next two seasons.
Turner, however, wants a new deal, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Okung will be reunited with new Carolina offensive line coach Pat Meyer, who was the offensive line/run game coordinator for the Chargers in 2017-19.
The two-time Pro Bowl selection is in the final year of his four-year deal and is scheduled to count $13,031,250 against the salary cap this year.
Okung, who turned 31 in October, was the sixth overall pick of the Seattle Seahawks in the 2010 draft. He joined the Chargers as a free agent in the 2017 offseason and has spent the past three seasons with the team.
Okung began last season on the reserve/non-football illness list because of a pulmonary embolism caused by blood clots during the offseason. He was activated in late October. He has started all 124 games of his NFL career.
The trade fills a big need for Carolina before the start of free agency and the April draft at a position that has been a revolving door since Michael Oher's career ended with a concussion suffered during the 2016 season.
Carolina signed Matt Kalil to a five-year, $55 million deal in 2017. After starting all 16 games that season, he was placed on injured reserve in September 2018 and released last March.
The Panthers hoped to fill the left tackle position last season with Greg Little, a second-round pick out of Ole Miss. However, Little was limited to three games -- he missed almost half the season in the concussion protocol and later suffered an ankle injury -- before being placed on injured reserve.
Daryl Williams and Dennis Daley also started at left tackle in 2019. Williams is a free agent.
Turner, who turns 27 on June 14, started 80 of the 84 games in which he has played for the Panthers since being selected in the third round of the 2014 draft.
After the news of his impending trade broke, Turner responded to Panthers teammate Gerald McCoy's tweet saying, "The NFL crazy!!" with one of his own that included an airplane emoji between two palm trees.
— Trai Turner (@trai_turner) March 4, 2020
Pro Football Focus gave Turner a grade of 63.9 this past season, ranking 29th in the league among guards.
Celtics' Brown (hamstring) out at least a week
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown will miss at least a week with a hamstring injury, coach Brad Stevens said Wednesday.
Brown, who is averaging 20.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game this season, suffered the injury in the closing minutes of regulation during Tuesday's 129-120 overtime loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
He didn't speak to reporters after the game and walked gingerly out of the locker room.
The Celtics visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Forward Gordon Hayward (bruised right knee) and Kemba Walker (left knee rehab) also were out of the starting lineup against the Cavaliers, and center Tristan Thompson missed his third straight game with a bruised left knee.
Stevens said Hayward is day-to-day, while there's no timetable for Walker to play in back-to-back games after he scored 21 points against the Nets in his return from a five-game absence.
Forward Jayson Tatum, who didn't play Tuesday because of an illness, will return against the Cavaliers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Pistons to claim McRae off waivers, sources say
The Detroit Pistons are claiming guard/forward Jordan McRae off waivers, league sources tell ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
McRae had agreed to a buyout with the Denver Nuggets. The Phoenix Suns (24-38) had hoped to claim McRae but Detroit's worse record (20-42) allowed the Pistons to be higher on the waiver list.
McRae, 28, joined the Nuggets as part of a February trade deadline deal with the Washington Wizards, but he hadn't been part of Denver's regular playing rotation and hoped to find a team that might have a bigger role for him.
McRae averaged 12.8 points in 29 games with the Wizards, but he only played four games -- averaging eight minutes -- after coming to the Nuggets.
The Pistons had a need at the guard spot with Derrick Rose sidelined for at least two weeks because of a sprained ankle.
Daniels finalizing deal with Nuggets, sources say
Free agent guard Troy Daniels is finalizing a deal with the Denver Nuggets, league sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Daniels cleared waivers Wednesday after working out a release with the Los Angeles Lakers.
He played only three games this season -- the last on Jan. 28 -- because of suspensions and poor conditioning.
Daniels, 28, averaged 4 points in 11 minutes this season.
The Nuggets' cap hit on the veteran guard will be $385,000, with Daniels earning $481K. He will also earn $2 million from the Lakers.
Information from ESPN's Bobby Marks was used in this report.
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