England’s Tom Jarvis and Wales’ Anna Hursey both won through their opening matches at the Europe Smash in Malmo, Sweden.

Jarvis (WR 84, pictured above) trailed the first game 4-1 against Ecuador’s Alberto Mino (WR 143) in the first of three qualifying rounds but powered through the next seven points and took the game 11-8 on his third game point.

There was another run of seven points in game two as he came from 5-4 down to win 11-5, and he completed a straightforward victory in three straight, for the loss of only four points in the third.

He will next face wildcard Simon Berglund (WR 612) of the host nation, who picked up a good 3-2 win over Hungary’s Csaba Andras (WR 113) today – 13-11 in the fifth. The match is at 5.45pm UK time on Friday on Table 4.

Hursey (WR 71) came through 3-1 against Australia’s Jiamuwa Wu (WR 116) in her first match in the Women’s Singles.

Hursey led the first 8-2 but Wu came back to level it and the players traded blows for the rest of the game, both missing two game points before Wu got it on the board 15-13.

Hursey trailed the second 4-2 but that was a turning point as she went on a run of six successive points, and nine out of 10, to level the match.

She led the third throughout and then took charge of the fourth at 8-4, only for Wu to fight backto level. But three of the next four points won it for Hursey, who next plays Margaryta Pesotska (WR 99) of Ukraine. The match is at 4pm UK time on Friday on Table 4.

Results

Men’s Singles
Qualifying round 1
Tom Jarvis bt Alberto Mino (ECU) 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-4)

Women’s Singles
Qualifying round 1
Anna Hursey (WAL) bt Jiamuwa Wu (AUS) 3-1 (13-15, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9)