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Successful start together, now task for same apart

Successful start together, now task for same apart

Semi-final places reserved in the Women’s Doubles event at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour India Open in New Delhi, for the Hong Kong partnership comprising Doo Hoi Kem and Lee Ho Ching it was a successful start in their quest for honours; likewise it was the very same for the combination of Sweden’s Matilda Ekholm and Hungary’s Georgina Pota.

They pairs occupy the top two seeded positions in the competition; in the Women’s Singles event, they are the top four seeded players, not required to compete in the opening round, their pursuit of individual gold commences on Friday 17th February.



Doo Hoi Kem, top seed in the Women's Singles event (Photo: Qatar TTA)
by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

In her opening Women’s Singles contest, Doo Hoi Kem faces the host nation’s Mousumi Paul; Lee Ho Ching confronts the winner of the duel between colleague Mak Tze Wing and Moumita Dutta, like Mousumi Paul from India.

Meanwhile, Matilda Ekholm confronts Chinese Taipei’s Lin Po-Hsuan but I venture to suggest that the most intriguing contest of all is that which involves Georgina Pota in opposition to Hong Kong’s Minnie Soo Wai Yam.

Two days earlier, Minnie Soo Wai Yam was the runner up in the Under 21 Women’s Singles event, beaten by the very narrowest of margins by Japan’s Sakura Mori (4-11, 13-11, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10). Equally on her most recent visit to India, in Indore she won the Girls’ Singles title at the 2016 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals.

It appears that Minnie Soo Wai Yam is in form; furthermore, she has three days of matches in her locker, for Georgina Pota, it is her first and that can be the hardest.

Similarly, in the Men’s Singles event, Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the top seed, makes his first appearance; he confronts Saudia Arabia’s Abdulaziz Al-Abbad. Likewise colleague Steffen Mengel, the no.13 seed, alongside the Japanese duo of Yuya Oshima, the no.5 seed and Masataka Morizono, the no.9 seed, start their bid for honours.

Eyes will very much focus on Masataka Morizono, he confronts India’s Stathiyan Gnanasekaran in a bid for a second round place; a feat already achieved by four colleagues

Asuka Sakai, the shock first round winner against Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, the no.2 seed, faces compatriot Tomokazu Harimoto; for Koki Niwa and Yuto Muramatsu host nation adversaries await.

Koki Niwa, the no.3 seed, confronts Harmeet Desai, Yuto Muramatsu, the no.4 seed, opposes Sharath Kamal Achanta, the no.11 seed; tough second round adversaries for host nation players. It is the same for the one further Indian who has progressed to round two; Sanil Shetty confronts Austria’s Robert Gardos, the no.8 seed.

Play is scheduled to start at 11.00am (local time); New Delhi is five hours and 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

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