Tin-Tin & Anna into doubles final at WTT Feeder Manchester!

Tin-Tin Ho & Anna Hursey are into the Women’s Doubles final at WTT Feeder Manchester after a composed semi-final victory.

The England-Wales pairing saw off Belgium’s Margo Degraef & Nathalie Marchetti to book their place in the final tomorrow afternoon.

They were never behind in the match, taking the first two games, both to five, and fully justifying their status as second seeds.

The Belgians hit back in the third, winning it 11-8, though they only moved in front for the first time at 8-7, but the fourth saw the British pair get back to the same routine, leading throughout and taking it with another 11-5 scoreline.

They will play top seeds Hana Matelova of Czech Republic and Barbora Balazova of Slovakia, who enjoyed a 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-9) win over the Polish-Slovakia duo, Natalia Bajor & Tatiana Kukulkova.

Earlier, Ho & Hursey were given an almighty scare by British team-mates Sophie Earley & Tianer Yu before taking their place in the semi-finals.

Fresh from a fine win over French duo Isa Cok & Audrey Zarif yesterday, Earley & Yu took first blood against the Anglo-Welsh combination of Ho & Hursey.

The senior pairing, who are the second seeds, hit back to win the second, although they did have to withstand a fightback from 9-2 to 9-7 by their opponents. The third was more routine as the seeds pulled away from 4-4.

But it was not all over, as Earley & Yu made virtually all the running in taking the fourth, and they led the fifth 6-5. Five of the next six points went to Ho & Hursey (pictured above, photo by Pawel Meryn), but still the younger pair were not finished, saving two match points before they were finally defeated.

Ho & Hurley will face Belgian pair Margo Degraef & Nathalie Marchetti in the semi-finals at 5pm on Table 2.

In the Men’s Doubles, England are guaranteed to have a pair in the final. Liam Pitchford & Paul Drinkhall were already into the semi-finals as their compatriots Ben Piggott & Connor Green had to withdraw from the quarter-final due to an injury to Green.

The senior English pair will face Tom Jarvis & David McBeath, who needed all five games to see off the fourth English duo, Shayan Siraj & Louis Price.

At 2-6 down in the second, the younger pair took a timeout, which worked as an effective reset as they worked their way back to win the game 12-10, saving a game point as well.

Jarvis & McBeath won three points in a row to take the third 11-9, but Siraj & Price hit back by taking the fourth, in which they were never behind from 4-4.

They made a fast start to the decider as well, leading 3-0 and 4-3, but that was as good as it got as Jarvis & McBeath turned up the power to win eight points in a row and book their semi-final spot.

In the Mixed Doubles, all the British pairs were eliminated in the quarter-final stage this morning.

Liam Pitchford & Anna Hursey were up against third seeds Luka Mladenovic & Xia Lian Ni (LUX), who took the first game 11-7 thanks largely to a run of five points from 4-4.

The second saw the British pair fight back from 7-1 down to level at 8-8 and then go past their opponents to set up a game point at 10-9. Sadly, that was the closest they got to landing a blow as the experienced Luxembourg pair won that game 12-10 and then took the last 11-6.

Tom Jarvis & Tin-Tin Ho also had a tough task as they faced top seeds Nandor Ecseki & Dora Madarasz from Hungary, but they started well to take the first 11-9.

They were in the next two games at the midway point, but their opponents pulled away to win them both to seven, and then brought it home with an 11-4 scoreline in the fourth.

Young British pair Harri Docherty of Wales and Hannah Silcock of Jersey were also knocked out at the same stage, losing in three straight (6, 8, 2) to Anton Limonov & Solomiya Brateyko of Ukraine, the fourth seeds.

Results

Women’s Doubles
Quarter-finals
Tin-Tin Ho & Anna Hursey (WAL) bt Sophie Earley & Tianer Yu 3-2 (6-11, 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9)

Semi-finals
Ho & Hursey bt Margo Degraef & Nathalie Marchetti (BEL) 3-1 (11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5)

Men’s Doubles
Quarter-finals
Tom Jarvis & David McBeath bt Louis Price & Shayan Siraj 3-2 (11-9, 10-12, 11-9, 8-11, 11-4)

Mixed Doubles
Quarter-finals
Nandor Ecseki & Dora Madarasz (HUN) bt Tom Jarvis & Tin-Tin Ho 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4)
Luka Mladenovic & Xia Lian Ni (LUX) bt Liam Pitchford & Anna Hursey 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-6)

Tin-Tin & Anna into doubles final at WTT Feeder Manchester! Table Tennis England.