Lutz makes Skopje main draw

Three days of qualifying action have got North Macedonia rocking, with the main draw lineup for WTT Contender table tennis championships in Skopje officially settled, with Camille Lutz making the cut.

The 23-year-old French ace was made to work for her main draw ticket, going the full distance with evergreen star Xia Lian Ni, winning 11-8, 12-14, 7-11, 11-9, 15-13.

A 39-year age gap separated the players, but the margins between the two on the table were razor-thin.

Dramatic from start to finish, the match would go right down to the wire. Leaning on her vast experience, Ni kept her cool under the cosh, saving two match points at 10-8 down in the fifth, and would then have three match clinching opportunities of her own at 10-11, 11-12, and 12-13.

However, in a remarkable finish, it was Lutz who emerged from the marathon showdown with the W, turning to her coach with her arms in the air as she celebrated her ticket to the main draw.  

The surprises didn’t stop there with No.2 qualifying seed Linda Bergstrom exiting at the first hurdle, while No.3 qualifying seed Shao Jieni also missed out.

Placed in Group 2, Bergstrom knew she had her work cut out for her with rising stars Lee Daeun and Cocona Muramatsu joining her in the group.

Astonishingly, the Swede lost out to both of them, with Muramatsu topping the group before the 14-year-old cleaned up qualifying with a 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 victory over Misuzu Takeya.

Jieni, who dropped a game in both of her group matches, would ultimately be undone in the final qualifying round as Asuka Sasao dialed up the heat, dispatching Shao in straight games 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 to set up a Round of 32 clash with wildcard entry Hana Arapovic.

Flipping over to men’s cingles qualifying, the top four seeded entries, Feng Yi-Hsin, Youssef Abdelaziz, Leo De Nodrest and Tom Jarvis all succumbed to shock group stage exits, opening up opportunities for some of the lower-ranked players in the final qualifying round.

Competing at only his second-ever WTT Series event, Diego Lillo caused a stir as the World No.213 staged an upset 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6 win over Lubomir Pistej.

The Spaniard is now eyeing an even greater twist, booking his place alongside No.7 seed Omar Assar in the Round of 32.