Liam Pitchford picked up a terrific win over 16th seed and world No 19 Chen Yuanyu at the WTT United States Smash in Las Vegas.

The England No 1 started slowly as Chen won four of the first five points of the match, but he fought back and from 6-7 down in the first took five successive points to win the game.

By contrast, Pitchford (WR 46) won the first four points of game two and never allowed his opponent closer than two points behind as he won it 11-8.

Pitchford, who had been 9-6 down, brought up a match point at 10-9 in the third, but Chen saved that and won the game 13-11 on his second game point.

The Chinese also fought hard in the fourth, saving four match points before Pitchford finally got over the line 12-10.

His next match is a last-32 clash against Lee Sang Su (WR 30) of South Korea, with the winner likely to face second seed Wang Chuqin in the last 16.

The match has not yet been scheduled as the remaining round of 64 matches are to be played on Monday. Follow the event on the WTT YouTube channel.

In the Mixed Doubles first round, Pitchford & Anna Hursey of Wales went out 3-2 to Nandan Naresh & Sally Moyland of the host nation, having led 3-2 and 6-4.

The US duo fought back, not allowing the British pair to fashion an opening from that point on as they won it 7-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7.

Hursey (WR 71) was defeated in the third and final qualifying round of the Women’s Singles, losing 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-7) to Li Yu-Jhun (WR 85) of Chinese Taipei, who she beat at WTT Star Contender Doha in January.

Results

Men’s Singles
Round of 64
Liam Pitchford bt Chen Yuanyu (CHN) 3-1 (11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10)

Mixed Doubles
Round of 32
Nandan Naresh & Sally Moyland (USA) bt Liam Pitchford & Anna Hursey (WAL) 3-2 (7-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7)