Ao Hualei, the runner-up at China's National Championships, came close to going out on the first day of qualifying at WTT Contender Istanbul on Tuesday. He won one point in the first game against Iran's Amin Ahmadian and, after levelling the match, needed extra points in the decider, winning it 16-14 after 43 minutes. Chinese reports said Ao let four match points go and saved two before he closed it out. He plays England's Connor Green, who had a bye, in the next qualifying round.
China's three other players on the opening day won in straight games. Wei Jingming beat Turkey's Ozge Yilmaz 11-5, 11-2, 11-2, Feng Yixuan beat Tiffany Ke of the US 13-11, 11-5, 11-8, and Quan Kaiyuan beat Uzbekistan's Khasanboy Teshaboev 11-6, 11-2, 11-8.
England's Tianer Yu, the world No 358, beat Kazakhstan's Sarvinoz Mirkadirova, ranked 187th, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7. Four Turkish players won in front of the home crowd: Sibel Altinkaya beat Slovenia's Lara Opeka in five games, Ibrahim Gunduz beat Spain's Norbert Tauler 11-4 in the decider, Gorkem Ocal beat Denmark's Martin Buch after losing the first game 11-2, and Tugay Yilmaz beat Uzbekistan's Shahbozbek Gulomiddinov 11-3, 11-5, 11-6.
Qualifying finishes on Wednesday, when the remaining places in the main draws are decided. Tom Jarvis and Anna Hursey go straight into the main draw, and the event runs until Sunday.
