Two seeded players failed to get past the opening qualifying action at the Singapore Smash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sally Moyland packed off sixth seed Huang Yu-Jiein straight games 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 while Vladislav Ursu\u2019s picked up a straight games 13-11, 18-16, 13-11 victory over men\u2019s singles No.8 seed Hwan Bae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 18-year-old Moyland took the first game by coming from behind and hitting six winners in a row against Yu-Jiein and then rode that momentum for the rest of the match, not falling behind for the remainder of the tie and set up six game points in the second and four in the third.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite most of the seeded players progressing to the next round, not all of them had an easy time of it. World No. 71 Sibel Altinkaya survived a late comeback from Australian Wu Jiamuwa, to win 11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 4-11, 11-5 and set up a tie against Rachel Moret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Altinkaya knew she was going to be in for a tough battle from the beginning, as Jiamuwa quickly took a 1-4 lead in the first game. However, Turkey\u2019s Altinkaya overturned that by scoring nine of the next 10 points. A similar story then unfolded in the second game, as World No.108 Jiamuwa went 1-6 up, only to concede nine without reply.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jiamuwa finally got back into the match and dominated the third and fourth games, but was unable to put the tie to bed as Altinkaya found her dominance once more, at one point leading 9-1 before setting up seven Match Points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No.1 seed in the men\u2019s singles draw, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, faced Columbia\u2019s \u200b\u200bEmanuel Otalvaro in a match that saw the 33-year-old Indian beat his 15-year-old opponent 13-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The young Colombian had chances throughout the match, overturning a 9-5 deficit and missing two game points in the opening game before winning the second game. Otalvaro was leading in the first half of the last two games, but the experienced Gnanasekaran prevailed each time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first round of qualifying also brought several hotly contested matches, including No.7 seed Margaryta Pesotska narrowly avoiding defeat to Elizabet Abraamian. She came back strongly to win 11-8, 11-7, 3-11, 8-11, 12-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World No.70 Pesotska went 6-1 up in the first game, only for Abraamian to hit five in a row to level things up. The opening stages of the first game offered a sign of things to come in a match where momentum swung back and forth throughout: The pair traded the lead five times in the second game before it was the Ukrainian\u2019s turn to win five straight points, this time coming from behind and converting game point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abraamian threw herself into the third as she tried desperately to avoid a straight games defeat, and her aggression paid off as she halved the overall match deficit. Game Four was much more even, and with the scores at 8-8, it could have gone either way, but three consecutive points for Abraamian confirmed a fifth and final showdown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
World No.99 Abraamian recovered brilliantly from losing the first two points to go ahead 2-3 and then 3-7 and looked set to pull off a miraculous comeback. But the 34-year-old Pesotska was not ready to throw in the towel: she clawed her way back to 7-7 and then 9-9 before saving match point and hitting three in a row to get the win.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the day, Singapore\u2019s own Clarence Chew put on a strong performance against the qualifier\u2019s No.4 seed Manush Shah, but was unable to cause an upset bowing out 10-12, 14-12, 11-9, 11-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World No. 345 Clarence took an early lead in the first game and held off a late resurgence from the World No.61 – who levelled the scores to 10-10 – to deal the first blow.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leading 8-9 in the second game, Clarence called a time out and, upon return, forced Shah to hit the net and set up two game points. Shah, on the cusp of going 2-0 down in the tie, denied his opponent but then missed two game points of his own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it was third time lucky for the Indian, who took the crucial second game. Shah had regained control and looked impressive from then on, seeing out the following two games without going behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clarence\u2019s compatriot Nicholas Tan will also be leaving The Kallang wondering what could have been had he converted one of game points against Hung Jing-Kai, who took the match 21-19, 11-5, 11-13, 11-9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first game, which saw a total of 40 points, Nicholas saved six game points and missed three of his own. In the third game, he overturned a 9-4 advantage and saved match point to keep the tie alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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