Tin-Tin Ho beat a higher-ranked opponent as she booked a place in the main draw at the WTT Feeder Dusseldorf, and Sam Walker won twice to also go through to the last 64.

Ho, currently ranked No 168 in the world, will face Kim Hayeong (WR 119) of South Korea in the last 64 at 11.20am UK time on Wedneday, after beating world No 134 Xin Ru Wong of Singapore in today’s third qualifying round.

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Wednesday match times

9am: Mixed Doubles – Walker & Ho v Ni & Mladenovic (Table 1)
11.20am: Women’s Singles – Ho v Kim (Table 1)
1.05pm: Men’s Singles – Walker v Liu (Table 1)
6.30pm: Women’s Doubles – Ho & Winter v Mittelham & Shan (Table TBC)

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Ho made the early running and led 5-2, but Wong won five points in a row. Ho hit back to level at 8-8, but the Singaporean took the next three points.

Ho never trailed in the second, and runs of three, four and three points saw her take it 11-4 to level the score.

A run of four points in the middle of the third saw her take charge of the game, though her opponent hit back from 9-4 to 9-7 to prompt Ho’s timeout. It did the trick as she won the next two points and she then completed victory with a dominant 11-3 in the fourth.

Ho had started in the second qualifying round with a 3-0 win over Sweden’s Matilda Hansson (WR 493). It was mostly routine, although Ho did see her opponent save three game points from 10-7 in the second, before taking it on her next chance at 11-10.

Walker saw off Elias Ranefur of Sweden (WR 304) in the fourth qualifying round – having taken the first two games 11-8 and 11-7, it was a surprise to see Ranefur open up a 9-0 lead in the third as he made, and Walker missed, some high-risk shots.

Walker then saw his opponent level the match by taking two points in a row from 9-9 in the fourth, but the Englishman started positively in the decider and led 5-2 at the change of ends.

He continued to star in front up to 9-6, but Ranefur made him sweat by closing to 9-8 before Walker took the next two points to go through to the last 64. His opponent is Liu Dingshuo (WR 189) of China at 1.05pm UK time on Wednesday.

Walker (WR 198) got through his first match by walkover against Netherlands’ Milo de Boer, so may have felt a little ‘undercooked’ ahead of his first match of today, against Ioannis Sgouropoulos of Greece, whose ranking of 380 is probably some way below his true level.

But Walker played a dominant game throughout, taking the first on the back of a run of six points from 5-7.

It was a similar story in the second as he turned around a 6-8 deficit, either side of a Sgouropoulos timeout, to win it 11-8 – Walker’s fist pump showed he knew it was a pivotal moment.

He came from behind again in the third, from 8-10 to 11-10, but he could not convert that match point, nor three more which followed. His opponent then took a chance of his own to win the game 17-15.

Walker kept up the theme of strong finishes as he pulled away from 7-7 to 10-7 in the fourth. Though Sgouropoulos again saved match points, two of them, Walker finally got over the line.

Walker and Ho are also involved in the doubles competitions. In the Mixed, they will face Luka Mladenovic & Xia Lian Ni of Luxembourg in the last 16. The match is on Table 1 at 9am UK time on Wednesday.

In the Women’s Doubles, Ho is partnering Germany’s Sabine Winter. They will face fourth seeds Nina Mittelham & Xiaona Shan, also of Germany, in the round of 16 at 6.30pm on Wednesday.

Results

Men’s Singles
Qualifying round 2
Sam Walker bt Milo De Boer (NED) 3-0 (w/o)

Qualifying round 3
Walker bt Ioannis Sgouropoulos (GRE) 3-1 (11-7, 11-8, 15-17, 11-9)

Qualifying round 4
Walker bt Elias Ranefur (SWE) 3-2 (11-8, 11-7, 2-11, 9-11, 11-8)

Women’s Singles
Qualifying round 2
Tin-Tin bt Matilda Hansson (SWE) 3-0 (11-4, 12-10, 11-3)

Qualifying round 3
Ho bt Xin Ru Wong (SGP) 3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-3)