Wales's Anna Hursey will play the top seed, Honoka Hashimoto, in the last 16 of the women's singles at WTT Contender Istanbul on Friday after beating Taiwan's Yeh Yi-Tian 11-6, 11-2, 7-11, 11-9 in the first round on Thursday evening.
The men's singles produced the day's argument. Jo Yokotani, a qualifier from Japan, lost 3-1 to China's 19-year-old defender Li Tianyang after being called for two service faults in a row at 9-9 in the third game, and said afterwards that he could not understand why.
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Hursey's chance against a chopper
Hursey, the world No 38 and 12th seed, lost only eight points in the first two games. Yeh, ranked 49th, won the third, but Hursey closed out the fourth 11-9 after 29 minutes to reach the second round. She is also still in the mixed doubles with England's Connor Green, after the pair beat Leonardo Iizuka and Laura Watanabe on Thursday morning.
Hashimoto, the world No 14, is one of the leading defenders in the women's game and lost only 13 points in her opening match, an 11-5, 11-2, 11-6 win over Spain's Sofia-Xuan Zhang. The British challenge in the men's singles ended on Thursday morning when Tom Jarvis, the eighth seed, lost 3-2 to Nikita Artemenko, and Jarvis and Green also went out of the men's doubles, beaten 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 by Danilo Faso and Gorkem Ocal.
Yokotani questions the fault calls
Yokotani, ranked 106th, won the first game 11-8 and led 8-6 in the second before Li, the fifth seed and world No 42, won five points in a row to level. In the third, Yokotani came back from 8-6 down to 9-9, then lost the game on the two fault calls. Li won the fourth 11-7.
Writing on social media after the match, Yokotani said he had been warned that his serve could not be seen and changed his action, then received the two faults anyway, the second called before the ball reached his racket. "I could not understand by what criteria it was judged a fault," he wrote, in comments reported by Rallys. "On the world stage of WTT, I have serious doubts about players not receiving an explanation they can accept, and about officials not being able to communicate sufficiently."
He said he had asked for an explanation after the match and did not receive one he could follow, but ended on a positive note: "Whatever the situation, I will keep looking ahead and work hard to become a player who wins on his own ability in the end." Li plays Turkey's Abdullah Yigenler, who beat Maksim Grebnev 3-1, in the last 16.
Seeds fall in the women's draw
Three of China's six women reached the last 16. Zong Geman beat her teammate Fan Shuhan 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7 in 56 minutes, and Qin Yuxuan, the sixth seed, beat Sally Moyland of the US 11-8, 11-7, 11-7. France's Jia Nan Yuan lost a five-game match to Ukraine's Veronika Matiunina, and Brazil's Bruna Takahashi, the eighth seed and world No 31, beat South Korea's Kim Nayeong, ranked 33rd, 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7.
Five Japanese women are through, with Kaho Akae, Miyu Nagasaki, Miu Hirano and Saki Shibata joining Hashimoto. Romania's Bernadette Szőcs, the fifth seed, beat her compatriot Elizabeta Samara 7-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-5.
Ranefur survives a 15-13 decider
In the men's draw, Sweden's Elias Ranefur, the third seed, needed a 15-13 decider to beat Brazil's Leonardo Iizuka after 52 minutes. France's Thibault Poret, the second seed, came from a game down to beat China's Yuan Licen 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10, and Huang Youzheng beat Germany's Andre Bertelsmeier 11-4, 11-6, 12-10. Bertelsmeier took the place of the top seed, Denmark's Anders Lind, who did not play.
Australia's Aditya Sareen, who came through qualifying, beat Russia's Evgeny Tikhonov 11-9 in the fifth game and plays Ranefur next. South Korea's Kang Dongsoo, a defender, beat Japan's Yuta Tanaka 3-1. China lost their only men's doubles pair: Huang and Chen Yuanyu trailed 10-0 in the deciding game and lost it 11-2 to Brazil's Iizuka and Guilherme Teodoro.
Selected results
- Women's singles, last 32: Honoka Hashimoto (JPN) bt Sofia-Xuan Zhang (ESP) 11-5, 11-2, 11-6; Anna Hursey (WAL) bt Yeh Yi-Tian (TPE) 11-6, 11-2, 7-11, 11-9; Veronika Matiunina (UKR) bt Jia Nan Yuan (FRA) 12-10, 10-12, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8; Bruna Takahashi (BRA) bt Kim Nayeong (KOR) 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7; Miyu Nagasaki (JPN) bt Wei Jingming (CHN) 11-6, 11-6, 11-8; Zong Geman (CHN) bt Fan Shuhan (CHN) 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7; Hana Arapovic (CRO) bt Prithika Pavade (FRA) 11-13, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7; Miu Hirano (JPN) bt Vlada Voronina (RUS) 11-6, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10; Saki Shibata (JPN) bt Andreea Dragoman (ROU) 11-4, 11-5, 11-8; Ece Harac (TUR) bt Audrey Zarif (FRA) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5; Bernadette Szőcs (ROU) bt Elizabeta Samara (ROU) 7-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-5; Qin Yuxuan (CHN) bt Sally Moyland (USA) 11-8, 11-7, 11-7; Joo Cheonhui (KOR) bt Elina Rahimi (IRI) 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8
- Men's singles, last 32: Huang Youzheng (CHN) bt Andre Bertelsmeier (GER) 11-4, 11-6, 12-10; Ricardo Walther (GER) bt Guilherme Teodoro (BRA) 4-11, 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4; Borgar Haug (NOR) bt Tugay Yilmaz (TUR) 11-9, 15-13, 11-8; Manav Thakkar (IND) bt Ibrahim Gunduz (TUR) 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7; Adrien Rassenfosse (BEL) bt Cedric Meissner (GER) 11-4, 7-11, 4-11, 15-13, 11-9; Lubomir Jancarik (CZE) bt Eduard Ionescu (ROU) 9-11, 11-4, 3-11, 11-8, 11-3; Fang Bo (KAZ) bt Mehdi Bouloussa (ALG) 11-6, 11-8, 11-5; Kang Dongsoo (KOR) bt Yuta Tanaka (JPN) 11-6, 11-5, 11-13, 11-8; Aditya Sareen (AUS) bt Evgeny Tikhonov (RUS) 11-4, 11-9, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9; Elias Ranefur (SWE) bt Leonardo Iizuka (BRA) 12-10, 10-12, 6-11, 11-8, 15-13; Li Tianyang (CHN) bt Jo Yokotani (JPN) 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7; Abdullah Yigenler (TUR) bt Maksim Grebnev (RUS) 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9; Ryoichi Yoshiyama (JPN) bt Joe Seyfried (FRA) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8; Thibault Poret (FRA) bt Yuan Licen (CHN) 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10
Friday
Hursey and Green play Teodoro and Giulia Takahashi in the mixed doubles quarter-finals at about 7.35am UK time, before Hursey meets Hashimoto at about 9.20am. Poret opens the men's last 16 against Japan's Ryoichi Yoshiyama at about 8.10am, and Li plays Yigenler at about 2.40pm. Times are approximate; the order of play and live scores are on Eleven's event page.
