Tom Jarvis brilliantly sunk top-30 player Oh Junsung of South Korea at the US Smash, while Liam Pitchford’s return from injury was an encouraging performance against Japan’s Hiroto Shinozuka.

Jarvis (WR 61) hit the front at 4-3 in the first game of thei round of 64 tie, and stayed ahead to take it 11-8, and he blitzed through the second 11-2, winning the first thee points and finishing the game with a run of five.

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Jarvis led 6-5 in the third as he closed in on victory – bu Oh (WR 28) had other ideas and reeled off five successive points to break the back of that game, and he levelled up in similar fashion from 6-5 down in the fourth, winning five of the next six points this time.

However, Jarvis came out determined to take his chance and won the first five points of the decider and pulled out to a 10-4 lead, taking the match on his second match point.

His opponent in the next round was his friend Kanak Jha from the USA and Jha was in inspired form as he blew through the first two games for the combined loss of only five points.

Jarvis raised hopes of a comeback by taking the third 11-6, but Jha was once again unassailable in the fourth, which he took 11-4 to set up a last-16 match against third seed Truls Moregard of Sweden.

Meanwhile, Pitchford made his return after 10 months out and was up against world No 30 Shinozuka.

He led the first game early on, but two runs of four points saw Shinozuka get on the board.

Pitchford hit his stride in the second, reeling off a run of six points from 1-1 and building up enough of a buffer to take it 11-5.

The Englishman led through most of the third and had three game points. However, a run of four game Shinozuka a chance to take the game. Pitchford saved that point but could not stop his opponent’s next game point.

Both athletes led at points during the fourth, and at 9-9 Pitchford would have fancied taking it to a decider with his two serves to come. But it was not to be, though Pitchford can surely take heart from the level he reached.

In the Women’s Singles, Tin-Tin Ho (WR 89) went out in the third and final qualifying round to Portugal’s Jieni Shao (WR 64) after a close four-game match.

Ho trailed 6-2 early on, but came back to hit the front 8-7 after taking four successive points. She brought up two game points which were saved, and there followed a tight tussle in which both players missed game points before Shao took her third at 16-14.

It was 10-8 to Ho again in the second, and Shao saved the game points – but this time Ho took her third chance to level the match.

Earlier in the competition, Ho got past Slovakia’s Barbora Varady (WR 110) in the second qualifying round, having had a bye in the first.

Ho led throughout the first game, taking it 11-6, and she was only behind after the first point of the second game, taking that one 11-8.

The third was closer and Varady led early on and 8-7, but Ho took it 12-10 on her second match point.

Ho led the third 5-4, but Shao’s run of six points was key to putting her back in front, 11-6  the score, and in the fourth the Portuguese had another run of six from 3-3 to break the back of a game she took 11-7 to complete her victory.

Wales’ Anna Hursey is also competing in LA, including in an eye-catching Mixed Doubles partnership with Anders Lind of Denmark – they won their round of 32 match against Luka Mladenovic (LUX) & Ng Wing Lam (HKG) 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 14-12) to set up a last-16 clash with top seeds Lim Jonghoon & Shin Yubin of South Korea. They lost that one 3-0 (9, 3, 8).

Alongside Maria Xiao of Spain in the Women’s Doubles, Hursey defeated Clio Barcenas & Arantxa Cossio of Mexico in the first round and then superbly knocked out sixth seeds Doo Hoi Kem & Ng Wing Lam of Hong Kong in the round of 16.

It was three straight, but that does not even begin to tell the story as the European pair won the first game 22-20. They were 9-5 up but 10-9 down, then saved four game points in a row, before missing four in a row of their own. They saved two more, and missed another, before finally getting over the line.

The next two games were also close, Hursey & Xiao winning the second 11-9 on their third game point and then closing it out 11-9 again, having seen a 7-1 lead whittled away in the third.

Their run ended at the hands of top seeds Wang Manyu & Kuai Man of China in the quarter-finals, the scoreline 3-1 (11-8, 12-14, 12-10, 11-3).

In the singles, Hursey (WR 34) defeated Peng Yu-Han (WR 76) of Chinese Taipei 3-0 (13-11, 11-8, 12-10) to set up a last-32 match with fourth seed Miwa Harimoto, but the Japanese superstar proved too strong and won the match 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-4).

Results

Women’s Singles
Second qualifying round
Tin-Tin Ho bt Barbora Varady (SVK) 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 12-10)

Third qualifying round
Jieni Shao (POR) bt Ho 3-1 (16-14, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7)

Men’s Singles
Round of 64
Tom Jarvis bt Oh Junsung (KOR) 3-2 (11-8, 11-2, 7-11, 8-11, 11-5)
Hiroto Shinozuka (JPN) bt Liam Pitchford 3-1 (11-6, 5-11, 13-11, 11-9)

Round of 32
Kanak Jha (USA) bt Jarvis 3-1 (11-2, 11-3, 6-11, 11-4)