Tin-Tin Ho made it through to the last 16 of the Women’s Singles at the WTT Contender Panagyurishte in Bulgaria, but found the top seed Hitomi Sato too strong.

The England No 1 (WR 84) was handed a good opportunity in the first round as she was drawn against wildcard Maria Yovkova (WR 373) of the host nation, with 30 world rankings points going to the winner, as against just four to the loser.

Ho duly took the opportunity with a 3-1 victory. She took the first 11-5, on the back of a run of six points from 1-1, and it was also 11-5 in the second, a game in which she was never behind.

Yovkova hit back in the third, coming from 9-7 down to win it 11-9, but Ho had another run of six points at the start of the fourth game and opened up a 10-3 lead. Yovkova managed to save five match points, but Ho got over the line 11-8.

Ho then faced top seed Sato (WR 15) of Japan in the last 16 and made a good start, leading 5-3 in the first. Sato pulled it back to 7-7 and then clinched the game with a run of four successive points.

The roles were reversed in the second as Ho was behind until three successive points made it 8-8. However, Sato won the next three to clinch the game and then went on a run of seven points from 3-3 in the third, which she won 11-4 to seal the match.

In the Women’s Doubles, Ho partnered with Slovakia’s Tatiana Kukulkova and they met third seeds Miu Hirano & Miyuu Kihara of Japan in the last 16.

The Europeans led at some point in every game, but were unable to get ahead in the latter stages and were defeated 3-0 (8, 8, 6).

Ho’s event started with the Mixed, in which she was in tandem with Germany’s Cedric Meissner. They were drawn to play second seeds Kristian Karlsson & Christina Kallberg of Sweden in the round of 16.

Meissner & Ho battled hard, particularly in the first, where they fought back from 8-3 and 10-6 down, saving those four game points and another at 11-10. They missed a game point of their own at 12-11, before the Swedish pair finally got over the line on their next game point.

Meissner & Ho kept pace with their opponents in the second, arriving at 9-9. However, the Swedes took the next two points and then completed their win 11-6 in the third.

Results

Women’s Singles
Round of 32
Tin-Tin Ho bt Maria Yovkova (BUL) 3-1 (11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8)

Round of 16
Hitomi Sato (JPN) bt Ho 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-4)

Mixed Doubles
Round of 16
Kristian Karlsson & Christina Kallberg (SWE) bt Cedric Meissner (GER) & Tin-Tin Ho 3-0 (14-12, 11-9, 11-6)

Women’s Doubles
Round of 16
Miu Hirano & Miyuu Kihara (JPN) bt Tin-Tin Ho & Tatiana Kukulkova (SVK) 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-6)