England's Connor Green and Wales's Anna Hursey are in the mixed doubles semi-finals at WTT Contender Istanbul after coming from two games down to beat Brazil's Guilherme Teodoro and Giulia Takahashi 6-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-3 on Friday morning.
It was a good session for the British pair and a bad one for the seeds. France's Thibault Poret, the second seed in the men's singles, and Japan's Miyu Nagasaki, the third seed in the women's, both went out in the last 16, along with China's Qin Yuxuan, the women's sixth seed.
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Green and Hursey turn it round
The Brazilians, seeded fifth, won the first two games comfortably and looked the sharper pair. Green and Hursey, the third seeds, then lost only two points in the third game, edged a closer fourth 11-9 and ran away with the decider 11-3, winning 33 of the last 47 points in a match that lasted 37 minutes.
It is a turnaround for Green in particular. The 20-year-old, ranked 118th in the world, went out in singles qualifying on Wednesday, but he and Hursey have now won both their mixed doubles matches, starting with a straight-games win over another Brazilian pair, Leonardo Iizuka and Laura Watanabe, on Thursday.
Their semi-final opponents also needed a comeback. South Korea's Lim Yunoh and Joo Cheonhui lost the first two games to Russia's Maksim Grebnev and Vlada Voronina, the second 13-11, before winning 5-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9, 11-4. Joo, the world No 17, is the second seed in the women's singles and plays Austria's Sofia Polcanova in the last 16 this afternoon. In the other semi-final, China's Huang Youzheng and Qin Yuxuan, the seventh seeds, meet the fourth seeds, Russia's Evgeny Tikhonov and Maria Panfilova.
Hursey's singles run ends
Hursey's singles ended earlier in the session against Honoka Hashimoto. The Japanese defender, the top seed and world No 14, won 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3 in 38 minutes. Hursey, ranked 38th, took the second game but won only eight points in the last two, and Hashimoto plays the winner of Veronika Matiunina against Bruna Takahashi in the quarter-finals.
Seeds go in both draws
Nagasaki, the world No 18, lost 11-9, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8 to China's Zong Geman, a 20-year-old ranked 76th, who had needed five games to beat her teammate Fan Shuhan on Thursday. Qin, ranked 24th, was beaten 11-8, 5-11, 11-5, 11-3 by Japan's Saki Shibata, the world No 72, who lost only three points in the last game. With Miyuu Kihara, the fourth seed, beaten on Thursday, three of the top six women's seeds are out.
Romania's Bernadette Szőcs, the fifth seed, survived from two games down against China's Wang Xiaotong, who had beaten Thailand's Orawan Paranang in five games the day before. Szőcs won 9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 13-11 after 48 minutes, the longest match of the morning.
In the men's draw, Poret, the world No 22, lost 12-10, 11-9, 12-14, 11-9 to Japan's Ryoichi Yoshiyama, 22, ranked 62nd. Poret stayed in the match by taking the third game 14-12, but Yoshiyama closed it out 11-9 in the fourth after 37 minutes. With the top seed, Anders Lind, not playing and China's Chen Yuanyu, the fourth seed, beaten in the first round, Sweden's Elias Ranefur, the third seed, is now the highest seed left.
Norway's Borgar Haug, the qualifier who beat Quadri Aruna to reach the main draw, lost the first two games 15-13 and 12-10 and still beat India's Manav Thakkar, the sixth seed and world No 47, 13-15, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7. He plays Germany's Ricardo Walther in the quarter-finals. Walther, 34 and ranked 143rd, beat Huang Youzheng 11-9, 12-10, 11-4 in 22 minutes, the shortest singles match of the day so far.
Friday morning results
- Mixed doubles, quarter-finals: Connor Green / Anna Hursey (ENG/WAL) bt Guilherme Teodoro / Giulia Takahashi (BRA) 6-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-3; Lim Yunoh / Joo Cheonhui (KOR) bt Maksim Grebnev / Vlada Voronina (RUS) 5-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9, 11-4; Huang Youzheng / Qin Yuxuan (CHN) bt Nikita Artemenko / Mariia Tailakova (RUS) 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9; Evgeny Tikhonov / Maria Panfilova (RUS) bt Abdullah Yigenler / Ece Harac (TUR) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4
- Women's singles, last 16: Honoka Hashimoto (JPN) bt Anna Hursey (WAL) 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3; Zong Geman (CHN) bt Miyu Nagasaki (JPN) 11-9, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8; Saki Shibata (JPN) bt Qin Yuxuan (CHN) 11-8, 5-11, 11-5, 11-3; Bernadette Szőcs (ROU) bt Wang Xiaotong (CHN) 9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 13-11
- Men's singles, last 16: Ryoichi Yoshiyama (JPN) bt Thibault Poret (FRA) 12-10, 11-9, 12-14, 11-9; Ricardo Walther (GER) bt Huang Youzheng (CHN) 11-9, 12-10, 11-4; Lubomir Jancarik (CZE) bt Adrien Rassenfosse (BEL) 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8; Borgar Haug (NOR) bt Manav Thakkar (IND) 13-15, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7
- Women's doubles, quarter-finals: Kim Nayeong / Joo Cheonhui (KOR) bt Mariia Tailakova / Ekaterina Zironova (RUS) 11-5, 6-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8; Miyuu Kihara / Miu Hirano (JPN) bt Wan Yuan / Orawan Paranang (GER/THA) 4-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8
- Men's doubles, quarter-final: Nikita Artemenko / Maksim Grebnev (RUS) bt Iskender Kharki / Fang Bo (KAZ) 11-9, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8
This afternoon
The afternoon session starts at about 1.30pm UK time with the rest of the doubles quarter-finals. The last eight singles matches in the last 16 follow from about 2.40pm, including Polcanova against Joo, Miu Hirano against Croatia's Hana Arapovic and Ranefur against Australia's Aditya Sareen. Green and Hursey play Lim and Joo at about 5pm UK time. Times are approximate, and every match is on WTT's YouTube channel and Eleven's event page.
