Liam Pitchford & Paul Drinkhall made the most of a second chance as they advanced to the doubles quarter-finals at the WTT Star Contender European Summer Series in Budapest.

The pair were defeated in the qualifying round yesterday but won a ‘lucky loser’ berth in the main draw – and they took advantage with a 3-2 win over Wong Chun Ting & Ho Kwan Kit of Hong Kong, coming from 2-1 down in the process.

Their quarter-final opponents will be known on Thursday afternoon as they wait for a match between pairs from Hungary and South Korea.

In the singles, Pitchford is through to the last 32 after a 3-2 victory over Hungary’s Tamas Lakatos (WR 179). He will face the German great Timo Boll at 5.50pm UK time on Thursday.

However, Drinkhall went out in the round of 64 to world No 33 Marcos Freitas of Portugal.

Results

Men’s Singles
Round of 64
Marcos Freitas (POR) bt Paul Drinkhall 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-9)
Liam Pitchford bt Tamas Lakatos (HUN) 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6)

Men’s Doubles
Round of 16
Liam Pitchford & Paul Drinkhall bt Wong Chun Ting & Ho Kwan Kit (HKG) 3-2 (11-7, 6-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9)