MUSCAT: French paddler Vicent Picard and Slovakia’s Yang Wang progressed to the third and final round of the preliminary qualification in men’s singles event as they posted crucial victories on Monday at WTT Contender Muscat 2023. Picard beat Algerian Mehdi Bouloussa 3-0 (2-11, 13-15, 7-11) in a tight clash while Yang Wang defeated French Joe Seyfried 3-1 (5-11, 11-8, 8-11,8-11) in the indoor hall of the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
World No 97 OH Junsung of South Korea outclassed Li Hon Ming from Hong Kong 3-1 in a thrilling encounter. The four sets ended at: 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5. Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan moved to the final round of the preliminary qualification in men’s singles after he defeated Hungary’s Nandor Ecseki 3-0. Iran’s Amir Hossein Hodaei moved to the deciding round of the qualification as he registered a 3-0 triumph over Pang Yew En Koen from Singapore. Hodaei will take on Lubomir Pistej from Slovakia in the final round as Lubomir edged Manush Utpalbhai Shah from India by 3-1.
Oman’s Muhannad al Balushi produced a good show against Huang Yan-Cheng from Chinese Taipei in the second round of the preliminary qualification in men’s singles event. Huang ended the match at 3-0 (8-11, 4-11, 3-11). Oman’s top singles paddler for the last season worked hard to earn one set at least but the experienced opponent dominated in the match and played with better focus and technique.
Earlier on Monday, India's Ayhika Mukherjee stunned Zhou Jingyi from Singapore 3-0 in the opening round of the preliminary qualification in women’s singles event. Mukherjee will meet Turkiye's Sibel Alitinkaya who emerged a 3-0 winner over Wong Xin Ru from Singapore.
World No 120 Giorgia Piccolin of Italy will meet Barbora Balazova of Slovakia in the second round of the women’s singles event. Piccolin beat Debora Vivarelli of Italy 3-0 while Balazova edged Katerina Tomanovska from Czech Republic 3-1.
On Tuesday, the action of WTT Contender Muscat 2023 will continue for the third successive day at the indoor hall of the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex. The second round qualifications matches of the women’s singles event will take place on Tuesday while the main draw action will begin on Wednesday.
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