Simon Gauzy knocked out the world No 3 on the second day of WTT Champions Montpellier, beating Tomokazu Harimoto 15-13, 11-7, 11-6, while the women's top seed, Wang Manyu, came from behind in each of her first two games to beat Hana Goda in straight games.
Gauzy, who turned 32 on Sunday, was the only one of five French players to win. Alexis Lebrun, the seventh seed, lost from two games up to Germany's Patrick Franziska, Flavien Coton was beaten from the same position by South Korea's Jang Woojin, and Prithika Pavade and Jia Nan Yuan also went out.
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Gauzy's night
Gauzy, ranked 30th in the world and seeded 27th, was facing the third seed, who arrived as the new Asian champion after coming from two games down to beat Li Tianyang in Tashkent. The first game decided the match. It went to extra points before Gauzy took it 15-13, and Harimoto did not win another game.
Harimoto called his timeout, but Gauzy won the second 11-7 and the third 11-6, and the match was over in 25 minutes 37 seconds, with the crowd at the Sud de France Arena behind the Frenchman throughout. He meets Wen Ruibo or Liang Jingkun, who play their first-round match on Thursday, in the last 16.
Lebrun and Coton let leads slip
Alexis Lebrun, the world No 8, looked in control against Franziska after winning the first two games 11-9, 11-4. The 34-year-old German, ranked 18th, took the third on extra points, 14-12, took the fourth 11-7 and won the decider 11-9. At 43 minutes 29 seconds it was the longest match of the day. Franziska plays Sweden's Elias Ranefur, who saved four match points against Anton Källberg on Tuesday, in the last 16.
Coton's defeat followed the same shape. The 18-year-old, the youngest player in the men's draw, won the first two games against Jang, the ninth seed, 11-5, 11-9. Jang took the third 11-9, the fourth 11-6 and the fifth 11-9. Jang meets Taiwan's Lin Yun-Ju, the fifth seed, on Thursday evening.
Prithika Pavade also went out, 3-1 to Japan's Hitomi Sato, the eighth seed, after winning the third game 14-12. Sato took the fourth 11-1.
Jia Nan Yuan, France's highest-ranked woman, closed the day with an 11-4, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9 defeat by Germany's Sabine Winter, the ninth seed and last year's runner-up here. Winter and Sato meet in the last 16 on Friday evening.
Wang Manyu's escape
Every game between Wang and Goda finished 11-9. Wang trailed 9-6 in the first game and won the last five points, then recovered from 9-7 down in the second. In the third she led 6-1, Goda closed to 10-9 and then served into the net. The match lasted 26 minutes 58 seconds.
Wang said afterwards, in comments reported by Chinese media, that Goda had improved noticeably over the past two years and that she was still adjusting to the venue and the table. Goda, the 18-year-old African champion and world No 22, leaves after one match. Wang plays her teammate Chen Yi, the new Asian champion, in an all-Chinese last-16 match on Friday.
Kuai Man survives, Kaufmann comes through
Kuai Man, the fifth seed, needed extra points in the decider to get past Wales's Anna Hursey. Kuai won the first two games 11-4, 11-7, Hursey levelled with 11-8, 11-9, and Kuai took the fifth 14-12 after 41 minutes 38 seconds. Kuai meets Joo Cheonhui or Adriana Diaz in the last 16.
Germany's Annett Kaufmann, 20 and ranked 35th, beat Japan's Satsuki Odo, the world No 13, 11-5, 9-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7 after trailing by two games to one. She plays China's Chen Xingtong, the seventh seed, on Thursday evening. Chen beat Ukraine's Margaryta Pesotska 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.
Wang Yidi, the defending champion and fourth seed, had the quickest win of the day, beating Egypt's Dina Meshref 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 in 20 minutes 38 seconds. She plays Romania's Elizabeta Samara next.
Zhou's comeback and Jorgic's exit
China's Zhou Qihao lost the first two games 11-5, 11-5 to South Korea's Oh Junsung, then won 33 of the last 50 points to win 5-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4. He plays Félix Lebrun, the world No 2, on Friday evening.
Vladimir Sidorenko beat Darko Jorgic, the world No 12 and 11th seed, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 13-11 and now faces the top seed, Sora Matsushima. Japan's Shunsuke Togami beat Croatia's Tomislav Pucar 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6 and plays the defending champion, Truls Moregard.
Results in full
- Kuai Man (CHN) bt Anna Hursey (WAL) 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 14-12
- Zhou Qihao (CHN) bt Oh Junsung (KOR) 5-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4
- Wang Manyu (CHN) bt Hana Goda (EGY) 11-9, 11-9, 11-9
- Shunsuke Togami (JPN) bt Tomislav Pucar (CRO) 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6
- Wang Yidi (CHN) bt Dina Meshref (EGY) 11-6, 11-4, 11-6
- Vladimir Sidorenko bt Darko Jorgic (SLO) 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 13-11
- Chen Xingtong (CHN) bt Margaryta Pesotska (UKR) 11-8, 11-7, 11-7
- Jang Woojin (KOR) bt Flavien Coton (FRA) 5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9
- Hitomi Sato (JPN) bt Prithika Pavade (FRA) 12-10, 11-6, 12-14, 11-1
- Simon Gauzy (FRA) bt Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN) 15-13, 11-7, 11-6
- Annett Kaufmann (GER) bt Satsuki Odo (JPN) 11-5, 9-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7
- Patrick Franziska (GER) bt Alexis Lebrun (FRA) 9-11, 4-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-9
- Sabine Winter (GER) bt Jia Nan Yuan (FRA) 11-4, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9
Day three
Six first-round matches remain on Thursday, starting at 11am UK time with Wen Ruibo against Liang Jingkun, whose winner meets Gauzy. Miwa Harimoto, the world No 3, and Hugo Calderano also start. The last 16 begins in the evening session at 5.30pm, when Moregard meets Togami, and Matsushima plays Sidorenko in the last match of the day. Times are approximate, and play ran late on Wednesday.
