Tom Jarvis staged a superb comeback from 2-0 down to sink the fifth seed at the WTT Feeder Dusseldorf – and followed up by defeating the 12th seed to move into the quarter-finals.
However, despite opening a 2-0 lead against Kim Minhyeok (WR 257) of South Korea in the last eight, Jarvis saw his opponent, who had beaten top seed Chen Yuanyu (WR 28) in the last 16, fight back to win.
Jarvis (WR 154) was always ahead in taking the first 11-7, and saved a game point on his way to adding the second 13-11.
The third saw Jarvis behind, but he clawed back to 7-7, only for Kim to take the next three points. Jarvis saved two game points but not the third, and that gave Kim the springboard to mount his fightback.
Although Jarvis led the fourth 4-1, Kim won six of the next seven points on his way to taking the game 11-6, and he made most of the running in the decider, powering into a 6-1 lead and pulling out to 10-4. Jarvis saved two match points but it was not enough to derail Kim’s march into the last four.
Earlier, up against world No 49 Feng Yi-Hsin of Chinese Taipei in the last 32, it looked as if it would go with ranking as Jarvis lost the first two games of the last-32 clash 11-8, 11-3.
However, the Englishman reduced the arrears thanks to taking eight points out of nine from 3-3 in the third, and then stayed in front all through the fourth to level the score.
The decider saw Jarvis trail early on, but he won six consecutive points to go 7-2 up and never relinquished his control.
Jarvis then made light work of Luxembourg’s Luka Mladenovic (WR 85), the 12th seed, in the last 16. Jarvis won in three straight taking control from 4-4 in the first as he won seven of the next eight points.
He took the next 11-8 and finished with a flourish with five points in a row to win the third 11-5.
Jarvis had started his run by defeating Jang Seongil (WR 196) of South Korea in four games in the last 64. The key to the match was the third game. With the match poised at 1-1, Jarvis was 10-7 and 11-10 down but saved all those game points and took his own first chance to win it 13-11 and then romped through the fourth 11-3.
Sam Walker (WR 254) made most of the running in his first-round match against unranked Chinese Huang Xunan, opening up a 2-0 lead.
He led the third 9-8 but saw his opponent hit back to reduce the deficit, but four successive points from 6-7 down in the fourth put Walker on the verge of a win which he clinched on his third match point.
Walker made a good start in his last-32 clash against Belgium’s Martin Allegro (WR 86), taking the first game 11-6.
But Allegro, a Men’s Doubles champion at WTT Feeder Manchester last year, stormed through the next game for the loss of only one point and stayed in charge as he won the next two games 11-6, 11-2.
Paul Drinkhall (WR 152) was edged out in a match of fine margins in the round of 64 by China’s Chen Junsong (WR 420).
Drinkhall saved three game points at 7-10 in the first game and then saved two more and also missed one of his own as Chen won it 15-13.
In the second, Drinkhall had game points at 10-8 and 11-10 but his opponent won it 13-11, going in front for the first time in the game at 12-11.
The third was also tight as Drinkhall led 8-6 and 9-8 but Chen then took three points in a row to seal his victory.
Wales’ Anna Hursey (WR 144) reached the quarter-finals of the Women’s Singles, including on the way a terrific 3-1 (9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 12-10) win over second seed Huang Yi-Hua (WR 34) of Chinese Taipei.
She then defeated 12th see Lee Zion (WR 92) of South Korea in four games before bowing out to seventh seed Zong Geman (WR 77) of China in three (8, 7, 7).
Results
Men’s Singles
Round of 64
Tom Jarvis bt Jang Seongil (KOR) 3-1 (11-6, 9-11, 13-11, 11-3)
Sam Walker bt Huang Xunan (CHN) 3-1 (11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9)
Chen Junsong (CHN) bt Paul Drinkhall 3-0 (15-13, 13-11, 11-9)
Round of 32
Jarvis bt Feng Yi-Hsin (TPE) 3-2 (8-11, 3-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-4)
Martin Allegro (BEL) bt Walker 3-1 (6-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-2)
Round of 16
Jarvis bt Luka Mladenovic (LUX) 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-5)
Quarter-finals
Kim Minhyeok (KOR) bt Jarvis 3-2 (7-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6)
