Sam Walker knocked out the sixth seed, Paul Drinkhall beat the fourth seed, while Paris Olympians Liam Pitchford and Anna Hursey made winning starts at WTT Feeder Manchester – and Tianer Yu, Connor Green, Andrew Baggaley and Tom Jarvis also picked up wins.

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Photos by Michael Loveder, Table Tennis England Official Photographer

Men’s Singles

Sam Walker knocked out sixth seed Payas Jain (WR 147) of India in a prolonged first-round match at WTT Feeder Manchester.

Walker (WR 277) took the first 11-8 thanks to a run of seven straight points, but Jain saved a game point in winning the second 13-11.

The third went all the way to 19-17 before Walker put the game on his side of the score. He was the first to bring up a game point and had four in total, while he also saved five.

Jain put the disappointment behind him with a run of six points from 6-5 down in the fourth but it was Walker’s turn for a decisive run in the fifth, four successive points from 7-7 putting him through to a tie against Japan’s Jo Yokotani (WR 213).

Second seed Liam Pitchford dispatched Spain’s Diego Lillo (WR 360) to begin his campaign with a win in three straight.

Once Pitchford had taken the opening game 13-11, missing two game points at 10-8 but then saving one, it became a routine triumph as he added the next two games both by 11-5 margins.

Pitchford has another Spanish opponent in the next round – Rafael De Las Heras (WR 235).

Connor Green recovered from 2-1 down to defeat Germany’s Benno Oehme, who had knocked out England’s Abraham Sellado in qualifying and is ranked 40 places above Green in the world at No 273.

A run of six points from 4-3 down helped Green hit the front, but his opponent had a run of six himself in the second, saving four game points and winning the game 12-10.

Oehme went even better with a run of eight successive points to win the third 11-5, but Green hit back by taking seven out of eight points in the middle of the fourth, which he won 11-8.

Five consecutive points in the fifth opened up a 6-3 lead for Green, and he then closed out the match with another run of four points from 7-6.

In the round of 16, Green will face top seed Finn Luu (WR 35) of Australia, who brushed aside Italy’s Niagol Stoyanov.

In the battle of the English wildcards, National Championships semi-finalist Andrew Baggaley defeated silver medallist David McBeath in another match which went the distance.

Baggaley won the first three points of the match and never let McBeath any closer than one point in the opening game, and then saved two game points before taking the second 13-11.

McBeath went in front at 8-7 in the third, which he went on to win, and levelled matters up by winning eight out of nine points from 5-3 down in the fourth.

Baggaley made most of the running in the decider, only trailing briefly at 6-5, and a run of three put him into a lead he never relinquished as he closed out a 3-2 (11-5, 13-11, 8-11, 6-11, 11-9) victory.

Baggaley will next face Daniel Berzosa (WR 309) of Spain, who knocked out fifth seed Rogelio Castro of Mexico.

Paul Drinkhall (WR 179) started like a train against Portuguese national champion Joao Geraldo (WR 116), winning the first five points and going on to take the first game with ease.

He doubled his advantage by saving two game points in winning the second 12-10, but fourth seed Geraldo cut the arrears by making all the running in the third.

The fourth saw Drinkhall behind for much of the time and forced to save game points at 9-10 and 10-11. He then saw his opponent save two match points, but took his third chance to clinch a 3-1 (11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 15-13) win.

Drinkhall’s last-16 opponent is Csaba Andras (WR 166) of Hungary. Drinkhall and Walker would meet in the quarter-finals if they both advance.

Last on court was eighth seed Tom Jarvis (WR 156), up against Alexis Kouraichi (WR 234) of France. He soon showed his long wait had not dampened his powers, taking a close first 11-9 from 9-8 down and then accelerating away from 5-5 in the second to complete the win for the loss of only three more points – 11-9, 11-7, 11-1.

He will next face Juan Perez of Spain (WR 185) – and Jarvis will face Pitchford in the quarters if both come through their last-16 ties.

Women’s Singles

Tianer Yu (WR 578) had the pick of the results in the Women’s Singles, edging past Nina Guo Zheng (WR 267) of France 13-11 in the fifth.

Guo Zheng won the first 11-6 but Yu cancelled out the advantage when she won the second 11-8 from 8-9 down – and then did exactly the same thing to win the third.

Yu led the fourth 8-5, but did not win another point, but she was never behind in the decider as she took her third match point to complete a 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11) win.

Yu’s last-16 opponent will be Lilou Massart (WR 205) of Belgium, who knocked out fifth seed Arantxa Cossio of Mexico.

Anna Hursey (WR 101) started her quest for a fourth successive tournament win, having taken the Under-19 titles at her last three WTT Youth Contender events, with a 3-0 (11-2, 11-7, 11-4) win over Ana Tofant (WR 292) of Slovenia. Sixth-seeded Hursey will face Krittwika Roy (WR 135) of India in the last 16.

There was disappointment for Tin-Tin Ho (WR 264), who missed out in a decider to Elvira Rad (WR 334) of Spain. After the first two games were shared, Ho let the third slip from 10-8 up, but she seemed to have all the momentum when she took the fourth 11-5.

However, Rad wrestled the initiative back and was never behind in the decider. Ho saved one match point but not the second as Rad won 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 13-11, 5-11, 11-8).

Jasmin Wong had a tough draw against Japanese seventh seed Kaho Akae (WR 123) and went out in three (5, 3, 5), while Sophie Earley also went out in three to a higher-ranked player – (8, 6, 6) to India’s Ayhika Mukherjee (WR 71), the fourth seed.

Results

Women’s Singles
Round of 32
Kaho Akae (JPN) bt Jasmin Wong 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-5)
Ayhika Mukherjee (IND) bt Sophie Earley 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-6)
Elvira Rad (ESP) bt Tin-Tin Ho 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 13-11, 5-11, 11-8)
Tianer Yu bt Nina Guo Zheng (FRA) 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11)

Men’s Singles
Round of 32
Andrew Baggaley bt David McBeath 3-2 (11-5, 13-11, 8-11, 6-11, 11-9)
Connor Green bt Benno Oehme (GER) 3-2 (11-6, 10-12, 5-11, 11-8, 11-6)
Paul Drinkhall bt Joao Geraldo (POR) 3-1 (11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 15-13)
Liam Pitchford bt Diego Lillo (ESP) 3-0 (13-11, 11-5, 11-5)
Sam Walker bt Payas Jain (IND) 3-2 (11-8, 11-13, 19-17, 6-11, 11-7)
Tom Jarvis bt Alexis Kouraichi (FRA) 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-1)