Connor Green picked up one of his biggest career victories but none of the English players were able to reach the singles main draw at the Europe Smash in Sweden.

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Green’s win over world No 56 Andrej Gacina of Croatia, the fourth seed in qualifying, showed tremendous resilience as he recovered from losing the first game of their second qualifying round match to win 3-1 (9-11, 14-12, 12-10, 14-12).

He had come back from 9-6 down to 9-9 before losing the first, but saved four game points before taking his own first chance in the second.

The third saw Green (WR 145) hit the front towards the end of the game and bring up two game points. This time it was Gacina’s turn to save them, but Green took his third opportunity.

The fourth was another close one and Green had a match point at 10-9, only for Gacina to win the next two points to being up a game point. Green saved that, then missed another match point before finally taking his next chance.

Green, who had earlier defeated Mohamed Elbeiali (WR 158) of Egypt in four games in the first qualifying match, met Izaac Quek (WR 106) of Singapore in the third and final round, with a place in the main draw at stake.

Quek won six points in a row from 5-5 to take the first, but Green levelled up 11-9 in the second with four in a row from 7-9.

Five successive points from 4-6 down helped Quek move back in front with an 11-8 score in the third, it was exactly the same in the fourth, apart from the final score of 11-7.

Quek had also ended the hopes of Liam Pitchford in the second qualifying round, winning 3-1 after Pitchford had taken the first.

Pitchford (WR 75) defeated Sweden’s Anders Eriksson 3-1 (12-10, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9) in the first round – only his second match back after his recovery from hip surgery.

Tom Jarvis (WR 43) was the top seed in qualifying and he advanced past Darius Movileanu (WR 139) of Romania with relative ease (2, 3, 9) in the first round.

He led India’s Harmeet Desai (WR 84) 2-0 in the second round, and never looked particularly threatened, but a stunning run of eight points from 3-1 down in the third saw Desai seize the momentum. He never relinquished it, a run of six points helping him take the fourth, and then leading throughout the decider.

Sam Walker (WR 149) had a good 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-14, 11-5) win over Italy’s Matteo Mutti (WR 141) in the first round, bouncing back from missing three match points in the fourth to lead throughout the decider.

Walker faced Milosz Redzimski (WR 54) of Poland, the second seed in qualifying, in the next round and was defeated in three, the closest of which was 12-10 in the second.

In the Women’s Singles, Tin-Tin Ho (WR 77) defeated Sabina Surjan (WR 92) of Serbia 3-2 (11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6) in the first round, pulling clear from 5-5 in the decider.

Audrey Zarif of France (WR 103) was her opponent in the second qualifying round, and it was done in three – though Ho fought hard to prolong the match, coming back from 7-3 down in the third and saving two match points to make it 10-10. Zarif took her next chance, however.

While there was no English interest in the singles main draw, two doubles pairs were in the field. In the Men’s Doubles, Jarvis & Green were defeated in four games by Eduard Ionescu & Darius Movileanu of Romania in the round of 32.

Six straight points from 4-4 won the Romanians the first game, but Jarvis & Green hit back 15-13 in the second on their fourth game point, having also saved two.

Ionescu & Movileanu pulled away from 6-6 to take the third 11-7, but it looked as if it was heading for a decider when the English pair led 9-4 in the fourth. But the Romanians hit back to 9-9, then saved a game point, before sealing the game 12-10, and with it the match.

In the Mixed Doubles, Green & Ho faced the German-Puerto Rican combination of Patrick Franziska & Adriana Diaz and took the lead by taking the first game 11-9, coming from 8-3 down with a run of eight successive points.

Franziska & Diaz hit back 11-6 in the second, but it was the same score in favour of the English pair in the third – this time, a run of five points from 5-3 down making the difference.

Their opponents trumped that thanks to 10 points in a row in winning the fourth 11-2, and so it headed to a decider.

Franziska & Diaz remained in front for almost the whole game, but Green & Ho fought back from 6-2 down to 6-6. However, they could not take the lead and it was their opponents who took it 11-9 on the first match point.

Results

Men’s Singles
Qualifying round one
Tom Jarvis bt Darius Movileanu (ROU) 3-0 (11-2, 11-3, 11-9)
Connor Green bt Mohamed Elbeiali (EGY) 3-1 (7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-3)
Liam Pitchford bt Anders Eriksson (SWE) 3-1 (12-10, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9)
Sam Walker bt Matteo Mutti (ITA) 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-14, 11-5)

Qualifying round two
Harmeet Desai (IND) bt Jarvis 3-2 (6-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6)
Green bt Andrej Gacina (CRO) 3-1 (9-11, 14-12, 12-10, 14-12)
Izaac Quek (SGP) bt Pitchford 3-1 (5-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-7)
Milosz Redzimski (POL) bt Walker 3-0 (11-6, 12-10, 11-4)

Qualifying round three
Izaac Quek (SGP) bt Green 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7)

Women’s Singles
Qualifying round one
Tin-Tin Ho bt Sabina Surjan (SRB) 3-2 (11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6)

Qualifying round two
Audrey Zarif (FRA) bt Ho 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 12-10)

Men’s Doubles
Round of 32
Eduard Ionescu & Darius Movileanu (ROU) bt Tom Jarvis & Connor Green 3-1 (11-5, 13-15, 11-7, 12-10)

Mixed Doubles
Round of 32
Patrick Franziska (GER) & Adriana Diaz (PUR) bt Connor Green & Tin-Tin Ho 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-2, 11-9)