Tom Jarvis picked up a great win in the Men’s Singles as the ITTF World Championships got under way in Doha today, but Liam Pitchford & Anna Hursey went out to the top seeds in the Mixed Doubles.

Jarvis (WR 148) set the tone early against Finland’s Benedek Olah (WR 127), winning the first three points of the match, and he stayed in front throughout the first, taking it 11-7.

The Englishman made an even faster start in the second, opening up a 5-0 lead and winning it 11-6 to double his advantage.

The third saw Olah fight back from 4-2 down to lead 8-4, and that helped him take the game and reduce the arrears, and he led the fourth 3-1 as he looked to continue the momentum.

But Jarvis quieted the storm, worked his way back to lead and, from 8-8 won three points in a row to move to within a game of victory.

That was secured with another solid game in the fifth, in which he never trailed and pulled away to win 11-5.

He next faces 10th seed Dang Qiu of Germany, the 2022 European champion, sho was tested by Filip Zeljko of Croatia before coming through 4-3 (11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-8).

In the Mixed Doubles, Pitchford & Hursey had their moments but the top seeds from China proved too strong.

The British pair had the honour of being the first match of the championships in Table 1 but faced a daunting task against Lin Shidong & Kuai Man.

They had a brief opening in the first game of the last-64 clash, when they led 6-5, but a run of four points put the Chinese pair on their way.

The left-hand, right-hand combination from China marched out to a 7-0 lead on their way to taking the second game 11-5.

Pitchford & Hursey led the third 4-2, but took their timeout after losing the next three points. They could not stem the flow as the top seeds pulled away to set up five match points. Three were saved, prompting the Chinese timeout as a settler – and it worked as Pitchford netted a fourth-ball attack to end the match.

Results

Men’s Singles
Round of 128
Tom Jarvis bt Benedek Olah (FIN) 4-1 (11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5)

Mixed Doubles
Round of 64
Lin Shidong & Kuai Man (CHN) bt Liam Pitchford & Anna Hursey (WAL) 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-8)