Sam Walker staved off a comeback to book his place in the next round of the WTT Star Contender Goa, but Tom Jarvis was edged out in a brutally close match.

Walker took a relatively straightforward two-game lead over Romania’s Cristian Pletea (WR 154), whose frustration saw him yellow-carded in the second game.

But the Romanian kicked into action to take the next 12-10 – Walker did not have a match point – and then levelled emphatically.

But Walker turned it back in his favour, crucially taking five points in a row to move from 4-6 to 9-6 in the decider, which he won 11-8 on his second match point.

Walker will face Bence Majoros of Hungary, ranked seven places above him at 110, in the next qualifying round tomorrow.

Jarvis was up against Harmeet Desai of host nation India, ranked 20 places below him at 141 and the next four games went to deuce after Jarvis had won the first 11-9.

Desai won the next two 12-10, before Jarvis hit back 13-11 in the fourth, saving a match point on the way.

Jarvis himself had two match points in the fifth when he led 10-8, only for Desai to reel off four points in a row to take it 12-10.

Walker & Jarvis went through to the main draw by defeating Indian opposition in the second qualifying round of the men’s doubles, but Walker & Tin-Tin Ho are out of the mixed doubles – having beaten an Indian pair in three straight, they lost to a German combination in four.

In the women’s singles, Ho enters at the second qualifying round stage on Tuesday against India’s Diya Parag Chitale (WR 122). Liam Pitchford is also competing and is seeded into the main draw of the men’s singles.

Results

Men’s Singles
Qualifying round 1
Harmeet Desai (IND) bt Tom Jarvis 3-2 (9-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-13, 12-10)
Sam Walker bt Cristian Pletea (ROU) 3-2 (11-8, 11-4, 10-12, 4-11, 11-8)

Men’s Doubles
Qualifying round 2
Tom Jarvis & Sam Walker bt Arush Dutt & Jashan Antal (IND) 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-7)

Mixed Doubles
Qualifying round 1
Sam Walker & Tin-Tin Ho bt Sanil Shetty & Reeth Tennison (IND) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-6)

Qualifying round 2
Patrick Franziska & Xiaona Shan (GER) bt Walker & Ho 3-1 (11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7)