Pitchford battles through to reach last 16 in India

Liam Pitchford came from behind to beat Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong and advance to the last 16 of the WTT Star Contender Goa.

Having started quickly, turning a 5-1 lead into an 11-6 win in the first game, 14th seed Pitchford (WR 25) saw the next two games slip away from 8-8.

He was 3-5 down in the fourth but a run of seven points, ended only when he put a serve into the net, saw him able to close out the game 11-7.

He turned around 5-3 ahead in the decider and continued to lead, although Wong (WR 40) threatened to regain the initiative by taking three successive points to close to 8-7.

However, Pitchford held his nerve to win it 11-8 and he next faces the winner of the tie between fifth seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany and the host nation’s Snehit Suravajjula.

Earlier in the competition, Tin-Tin Ho & Sam Walker were unable to join Pitchford in the main draw.

Walker was defeated in the first qualifying round by France’s Vincent Picard, ranked four places above him at No 193.

Ho (WR 148) got through her first match, against Trisha Gogoi of India, but went out in the next round to another host nation player, Nathya Mani (WR 258).

Ho & Anna Hursey of Wales are into the quarter-finals of the Women’s Doubles, having defeated an Indian pair in qualifying and then followed up by beating fourth seeds Camille Lutz & Prithika Pavade of France.

It was a resilient performance by the British duo, who trailed the first game 8-10 before taking it 12-10, and then turned around a 0-5 deficit in the second to win it 11-9.

The third was a less dramatic 11-7 and they next face Choi Hyojoo & Joo Cheonhui of South Korea on Friday.

In the Mixed, Walker & Ho lost in qualifying to Cho Daeseong & Joo Cheonhui of South Korea, the highest-ranked pair in that stage. Pitchford & Hursey went out in a deciding fifth game to Clarence Chew & Jian Zeng of Singapore.

Pitchford & Walker missed a chance to advance to the quarter-finals of the Men’s Doubles when they met Patrick Franziska & Dang Qiu of Germany in the last 16.

The English pair took the first 12-10 and the third 11-5, either side of an 11-7 scoreline in favour of the Germans, who took their timeout in game two.

Pitchford & Walker led the fourth 8-7 but lost it 11-9 and then, from 5-5 in the fifth, saw their opponents take a run of six successive points to claim victory – a timeout at 5-7 could not stem the tide.

Results

Men’s Singles
Qualifying round 1
Vincent Picard (FRA) bt Sam Walker 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-7)

Round of 32
Liam Pitchford bt Wong Chun Ting (HKG) 3-2 (11-6, 8-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8)

Women’s Singles
Qualifying round 2
Tin-Tin Ho bt Trisha Gogoi (IND) 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-2)

Qualifying round 3
Nathya Mani (IND) bt Ho 3-2 (11-7, 6-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7)

Women’s Doubles
Qualifying round 2
Tin-Tin Ho & Anna Hursey (WAL) bt Diya Bramhachary & Anjali Rohilla (IND) 3-0 (11-2, 11-8, 11-3)

Round of 16
Tin-Tin Ho & Anna Hursey (WAL) bt Camille Lutz & Prithika Pavade (FRA) 3-0 (12-10, 11-9, 11-7)

Mixed Doubles
Qualifying round 1
Cho Daeseong & Joo Cheonhui (KOR) bt Sam Walker & Tin-Tin Ho 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-7)
Clarence Chew & Jian Zeng (SGP) bt Liam Pitchford & Anna Hursey (WAL) 3-2 (5-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8)

Men’s Doubles
Round of 16
Patrick Franziska & Dang Qiu (GER) bt Liam Pitchford & Sam Walker 3-2 (10-12, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5)

Pitchford battles through to reach last 16 in India Table Tennis England.