The Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters got underway today with a number of European players already in action.
The BWF Super 300 event is host to some of the Worlds best players including the likes of Lin Dan and hometown favourite Nitchaon Jindapol but there’s plenty of European talent on show too and they are all looking to get off to the best possible start in 2019.
Tan qualifies for main draw
Some joy for Belgium in the morning session as Lianne Tan managed to qualify for the main draw. Tan overcame India’s Riya Mookerjee after a marathon long match, eventually coming out with a 21-15, 17-21, 21-13 win.
The victory see’s Tan face Indonesia’s Lyanny AlessandraMainaky in the opening round of the Women’s Singles tomorrow.
On the other hand, there was also disappointment for Belgium in the Men’s Singles as both Maxime Moreels and Elias Bracke could not make it through the qualification stage.
Moreels fell at the opening hurdle with a 21-17, 21-12 defeat to Liu Haichao whilst Bracke lost in the second and final round of the qualification stage. Bracke came through an hour-long match with Xiaodong Sheng (Canada),before falling later on in the day via a 21-12, 21-12 defeat to Japan’s Koki Watanabe.
Mixed Doubles exit for the French
There was more disappointment for Europe in the Mixed Doubles as the opening round of action got underway towards the end of the day.
The French pairs of Ronan Labar/Audrey Mittelheisser and Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue have both been knocked out in their opening round matches.
Labar and Mittelheisser were beaten comfortably, 21-12,21-14, by the 5th seeds Ronald Ronald and Annisa Saufika of Indonesia. The Europeans were beaten comfortably in the opening game but had the lead early in the second but could not see the game out and fell to a straight game loss.
Meanwhile their compatriots Gicquel and Delrue fell to the pair of Tak Ching Chang and Wing Yung NG (Hong Kong). The French pair got off to a flier, winning all five of the opening games points but could not close the game out, ending in a 21-17 defeat. The second game was much more comfortable for the Hong Kong pair, who romped into a 7-0 lead before eventually taking the game 21-15.
The action continues tomorrow with the rest of the opening round matches across all categories as we edge closer to finals day on Sunday.
See the full results and draw here