MUSCAT: World number 79 Harmeet Desai of India was upset by Tom Jarvis of England (World No 175) in the men's preliminary round 3 of the WTT Contender Muscat 2022 on Monday.
On the second day of competitions at the Sultan Qaboos Sport Complex, Jarvis prevailed over Desai in a close fight with a 3-2 margin with scores of 7-11,11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9. Jarvis will meet 127th ranked Xu Yingbin of China to decide the qualifier.
In pursuit of last 32 spots, World No 75 Horacio Cifuentes of Argentina will take on 116th ranked Sun Wen of China, Vincent Picard of France take on China's Cao Wei, India's Manav Vikash Thakkar plays against Yuan Licen of China, 16-year-old Iulian Chirata meet Qihao Zhou of China and Peng Xiang of China take on Antoine Hachard of France.
Also on action for qualification will be Chinese players Zhang Yudong and Liu Dignshuo against French players Alexandre Cassin and Leo De Nodrest respectively in the fourth round.
In the men's preliminary round 3 matches, Peng Xiang of China beat (World No. 106) beat compatriot Fei Xue 3-1, India's Manav Vikash Thakkar defeated Darius Movileanu of Romania 3-1, French 115th ranked Alexandre Cassin beat Tamas Lakatos of Hungary (World No 159) 3-1.
Romania’s Iulian Chirata (World No 727), who caused an opening day upset of 114th ranked Chinese Taipei’s Liao Cheng-Ting 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-9), continued his winning run against local paddler Mashal al Shahi 3-0.
Dragoman advances
In the women's draw, Andreea Dragoman of Romania (World No 203) set up a third round clash against World Youth champion Kuai Man after upsetting 89th ranked Natalia Bajor of Poland 3-1 (11-6, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7).
Currently world-ranked 288, Kuai prevailed over 147-ranked Pauline Chasselin of France 3-1 in the second round.
On Sunday, Kuai successfully dispatched Czech Republic’s Zdena Blaskova 3-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-3). However, Kuai’s compatriot Zhu Sibing will play no further part following her straight games defeat to Australia’s Jee Minhyung (13-11, 11-9, 11-7), who moves on to face Serbia’s Andrea Todorovic in the second round of qualifying.
In other action, Turkey’s Simay Kulakceken made winning return to action following a lengthy spell away from the international circuit. Kulakceken defeated up-and-coming German talent and world-ranked 367 Franziska Schreiner 3-2 (11-9, 6-11, 11-3, 2-11, 11-5), marking a successful start to her comeback campaign.
WTT Contender Muscat is a fourth-tier event within the WTT Series structure. It offers a total prize purse of US$75,000 and 400 ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking Points across Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles competitions.
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