Sam Walker saw a match point slip by as he was defeated at the first hurdle at the WTT Contender Doha, while Paul Drinkhall has also been knocked out.

Walker (WR 197) faced Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw (WR 96) in his opening match, in the second qualifying round, and things looked good when he took a two-game lead.

His opponent hit back to level and the decider was tight, but it was Walker who brought up the first match point at 10-9. However, Diaw won three consecutive points to claim victory.

Drinkhall (WR 110) had to recover a 2-1 deficit in his first match, against Mohamed Shouman of Egypt (WR 199) – the Englishman took the decider 11-8.

In the third qualifying round, Drinkhall again found himself behind – this time 2-0 at the hands of Algeria’s Mehdi Bouloussa (WR 91). He hit back to level but his opponent tore through the decider 11-2.

Drinkhall & Walker teamed up in the Men’s Doubles but were beaten in four in the first qualifying round by Austrian pair Robert Gardos & Daniel Habesohn.

In the Mixed, Walker & Anna Hursey lost in three in the sole qualifying round to Manush Shah & Diya Chitale of India. Wales’ Hursey is still in the Women’s Singles and has a third qualifying round match on Tuesday.

Results

Men’s Singles
Qualifying round 2
Ibrahima Diaw (SEN) bt Sam Walker 3-2 (7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 12-10)
Paul Drinkhall bt Mohamed Shouman (EGY) 3-2 (12-14, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8)

Qualifying round 3
Mehdi Bouloussa (ALG) bt Drinkhall 3-2 (11-5, 11-4, 3-11, 4-11, 11-2)

Men’s Doubles
Qualifying round 1
Robert Gardos & Daniel Habesohn (AUT) bt Paul Drinkhall & Sam Walker 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9)

Mixed Doubles
Qualifying round
Manush Shah & Diya Chitale (IND) bt Sam Walker & Anna Hursey 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5)