Fresh from the news of their respective rise in the world rankings, Tin-Tin Ho and Sam Walker have advanced to the Mixed Doubles semi-finals at the WTT Feeder Lagos in Portugal, with both players putting out excellent individual performances in the singles’ events too.
Their path to the semis started in the Round of 16 on Sunday as they faced Ukrainian pair Andrii Grebeniuk & Anastasiya Dymytrenko. The opening end saw them exchange early points, before pulling clear to an 11-4 score. The Ukrainian duo responded in kind by taking the second in dominant fashion, before a Ho & Walker took the third 11-6, followed by the decisive end 11-5.
In the next round they faced more Ukrainian opposition, Nazar Tretiak & Veronika Matiunina. Both pairs split the opening two sets before it looked like Ho & Walker took a firm grasp of the match in the third as they won 11-3. The fourth end wasn’t to be the end of the match, despite the English pair having match point, before the Tretiak & Matiunina won three all important consecutive points to take it 12-10 and send the match to a decider. After a rather cagey performance from both sides, in the end, Ho & Walker looked the more confident side as they managed to secure their spot in the semis with an 11-9 fifth end.
In the women’s doubles, Tin-Tin Ho partnered Switzerland’s Rachel Moret. The Round of 16 saw them sweep Beatriz Pinto & Mariana Santa 3-0, before facing South American fourth seed pairing Victoria Strassburger (Brazil) & Valentina Rios (Chile).
Ho & Moret made a storming start with decisive wins in the opening two ends (3, 4). But Strassburger & Rios got themselves back into the frame by responding with their own 11-3 win in the third. This wasn’t enough in the end as Ho & Moret re-lit the flame from the first two sets, to take the fourth, and final set, 11-3 to secure a spot in the semi finals.
Although doubles, was not the only action on display as both Tin-Tin Ho & Sam Walker took part in the respective singles events. Walker, starting as a wildcard in the Round of 32, took a solid 3-0 win over Portuguese qualifier Clement Laine, 3-0, before setting up a tie with Japanese second seed Ryoichi Yoshiyama in the Round of 16. A great match ensued, with Walker coming out the victor after winning the fifth end 12-10. In fact, all of Walker’s successful sets went to deuce.
Tin-Tin Ho faced Clemence Chevallier, a qualifier from France in the Round of 32. Ho always looked in control and came out unscathed and a 3-1 win. From here, she set up a tie with Giorgia Piccolin of Italy, the eighth seed in the women’s singles, where she continued her fine form with a 3-0 victory.
More results and reporting to come.
Results
Mixed Doubles
Round of 32
Sam Walker/Tin-Tin Ho bt Andrii Grebeniuk (UKR) 3-1 (11-4, 5-11, 11-6, 11-5)
Quarter Final
Walker/Ho bt Nazar Tretiak/Veronika Matiunina (UKR) 3-2 (11-7, 6-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9)
Women’s Doubles
Round of 16
Tin-Tin Ho/Rachel Moret (SUI) bt Beatriz Pinto/Mariana Santa 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 12-10)
Quarter Final
Ho/Moret bt Victoria Strassburger (BRA)/Valentina Rios (CHI) 3-1 (11-3, 11-4, 3-11, 11-3)
Men’s Singles
Round of 16
Sam Walker bt Clement Laine 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-7)
Quarter Final
Walker bt Ryoichi Yoshiyama (JPN) 3-2 (9-11, 12-10, 7-11, 14-12, 12-10)
Women’s Singles
Round of 16
Ho bt Clemence Chevallier 3-1 (11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4)
Quarter Final
Ho bt Giorgia Piccolin (JPN) 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 12-10)