Liam Pitchford & Anna Hursey made a winning start to WTT Feeder Manchester as they knocked out English pair Sam Walker & Tin-Tin Ho.

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Photos by Michael Loveder, Table Tennis England Official Photographer

An early match between players on the GB pathway probably wasn’t ideal, but the two Paris Olympians, seeded third, had the best of the encounter despite their opponents winning the first five points of the match.

Pitchford & Hursey came back to win that game and then, after Walker & Ho levelled, moved back in front with five successive points to take the third from 7-6 down. They then hit the front from 4-4 in the fourth and stayed there, to seal a 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9) victory.

The victors will next play Darius Movileanu of Romania & Lilou Massart of Belgium in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.

Connor Green & Sophie Earley won the all-English affair against Abraham Sellado & Tianer Yu in three straight (6, 9, 8), though their opponents led at some stage – and by as many as four points – in every game.

Green & Earley will face Barish Moullet & Rachel Moret of Switzerland in the quarter-finals after they knocked out second seeds John Oyebode & Gaia Monfardini of Italy. The two British pairs will meet in the semi-finals if they win their quarters.

Hursey & Ho are through to the quarter-finals of the Women’s Doubles as they defeated higher-ranked pair Nina Guo Zheng & Elise Pujol of France 3-2 (11-6, 7-11, 11-13, 11-4, 11-6).

They will have been disappointed to have lost the third, having led 9-5, but were not threatened in the fourth and pulled away from 5-4 down in the decider with six successive points.

Hursey & Ho will next face top seeds Krittwika Roy & Sayali Wani of India tomorrow.

There was agony for Mari Baldwin & Jasmin Wong as they saw a 2-0 overturned, including four missed match points, to lose 13-11 in the fifth to higher-ranked Jana Riera & Elvira Rad.

It look rosy when the English pair made all the running in the first, and then added the second 12-10, having been pegged back from 10-8 up.

They led the third 9-6 but had to save a game point at 9-10, before they missed two chances to close out the match at 11-10 and 12-11. They then saved two game points, before the Spanish pair finally won the game 16-14.

Both pairs led in the fourth, with Baldwin & Wong 9-8 up before the Spanish won the next three points to level it.

In the decider, the lead swapped hands a couple of times, but the English duo led 10-9 and 11-10, only for Riera & Rad to take three points on the spin to complete their comeback.

Sophie Earley & Tianer Yu also went out, going down 3-1 (11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7) to third seeds Isa Cok of France & Slovenia’s Ana Tofant.

In the Men’s Doubles, Paul Drinkhall & Sam Walker had few alarms against Andrew Baggaley and Slovenia’s Peter Hribar, especially once they had come from 8-6 down to win the second.

They went on to complete a 3-0 (6, 9, 3) victory and next play top seeds Finn Luu (AUS) & Josh Chua (SGP) in the quarter-finals.

New combination Liam Pitchford & Connor Green, who will play at the World Championships together next month, were knocked out by Hungarian pair Balazs Lei & David Szantosi.

But they did enough to suggest there is promise in the partnership, holding two game points before losing the first 12-10, then taking the second 11-8.

They could not get close enough in the third, and although they briefly led the fourth, their fourth-seeded opponents reeled off six points in a row to complete a 3-1 (12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6) win.

Results

Mixed Doubles
Round of 16
Liam Pitchford & Anna Hursey (WAL) bt Sam Walker & Tin-Tin Ho 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9)
Connor Green & Sophie Earley bt Abraham Sellado & Tianer Yu 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-8)

Women’s Doubles
Round of 16
Tin-Tin Ho & Anna Hursey bt Nina Guo Zheng & Elise Pujol 3-2 (11-6, 7-11, 11-13, 11-4, 11-6)
Jana Riera & Elvira Rad bt Mari Baldwin & Jasmin Wong 3-2 (8-11, 10-12, 16-14, 11-9, 13-11)
Isa Cok & Ana Tofant bt Sophie Earley & Tianer Yu 3-1 (11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7)

Men’s Doubles
Round of 16
Paul Drinkhall & Sam Walker bt Peter Hribar (SLO) & Andrew Baggaley 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-3)
Balazs Lei & David Szantosi (HUN) bt Liam Pitchford & Connor Green 3-1 (12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6)