Sam Walker saved two match points as he got through his first tie at the WTT Feeder event in Dusseldorf in a deciding game – and he subsequently made it into the quarter-finals.
Walker, the fifth seed, was up against Benno Oehme of Germany in the last 32 and the world No 446 belied his ranking to take a 3-1 lead.
Walker roared back to take the fifth and sixth in fine style, but the decider was close and the England No 3 won four points in a row from 10-8 down to win 12-10 and take his place in the last 16.
That match, against Amin Ahmadian of Iran (WR 202), was a rather more routine victory in four straight, putting Walker into the quarter-finals against top seed Anton Kallberg of Sweden (WR 42).
The match is on table 1 at 12.30pm UK time – watch on the WTT YouTube page.
Tom Jarvis, seeded 10th, started with victory over Juan Perez of Spain, winning in six having never been behind, before an agonising 4-3 defeat to Russia’s Lev Katsman (WR 280) in the last 16.
Having lost the first narrowly, Jarvis opened up a 3-1 lead, only to see his opponent come all the way back to win it in the decider.
In the doubles, Walker & Jarvis are the second seeds and started in the quarter-finals – and they breezed into the last four with a convincing three-game victory over Spanish-Swiss combination Albert Vilardell & Pedro Osiro.
Walker will again come face to face with Ahmadian, who is partnering Serbia’s Dimitrije Levajac. The match is at 10.25 UK time on Thursday.
Results
Men’s Singles
Round of 32
Sam Walker bt Benno Oehme (GER) 4-3 (10-12, 13-11, 5-11, 10-12, 11-2, 11-5, 12-10)
Tom Jarvis bt Juan Perez (ESP) 4-2 (11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5)
Round of 16
Walker bt Amin Ahmadian (IRI) 4-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6)
Lev Katsman (RUS) bt Jarvis 4-3 (13-11, 3-11, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6)
Men’s Doubles
Quarter-finals
Sam Walker & Tom Jarvis bt Albert Vilardell (ESP) & Pedro Osiro (SUI) 3-0 (11-7, 11-3, 11-1)