Connor Green was unfortunate to be drawn against top seed Ryoichi Yoshiyama of Japan at WTT Feeder Istanbul in Turkiye.

Follow the event on the WTT YouTube channel.

At No 66 in the world, Yoshiyama is 86 places ahead of Green, and started quickly, winning the first five points of the match. Green fought back to level at 7-7 and 8-8, before the Japanese took three points in a row to get the first game on the board.

It was 2-0 when Yoshiyama won a run of six points from 5-4 in the second, but Green reduced the deficit by taking the third – he was never behind and won four in a row from 7-7 to get himself back in the match.

However, Yoshiyama pulled away from 5-5 in the fourth, taking the game 11-7 and completing his victory to move into the round of 16.

In the Men’s Doubles, Green is competing alongside Rogelio Castro of Mexico – setting aside any rivalry ahead of the upcoming football World Cup match between the two nations.

They took on Zaid Abo Yaman & Zeyad Aldmaisy of Jordan in the first round and, after being edged out of the first game 12-10 – having led 10-8 – levelled with a dominant performance in the second, including six points in a row from 2-1 down.

The match hinged on the third, which saw the Jordanian pair fight back from 8-3 down to level at 9-9. The two pairs alternated game points up to 14-14 before Green & Castro took their fourth chance and moved in front.

Buoyed up, they ran through the fourth game 11-3 to set up a quarter-final against neutral athletes Lev Katsman & Maksim Grebnev on Saturday morning.

Results

Men’s Singles
Round of 32
Ryoichi Yoshiyama (JPN) bt Connor Green 3-1 (11-8, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7)

Men’s Doubles
Round of 16
Connor Green & Rogelio Castro (MEX) bt Zaid Abo Yaman & Zeyad Aldmaisy (JOR) 3-1 (10-12, 11-5, 16-14, 11-3)