The World Singles Qualification Tournament in Doha entered the second day with the great win for young Vladimir SIDORENKO of Russia. Russia’s teenager no.45 seed recorded six games win over the no.14 seed from Great Britain Paul DRINKHALL (14-12 7-11 11-5 11-9 13-15 13-11).
” This match was difficult for me because I was not even supposed to play this tournament! SHIBAEV and SKACHKOV were meant to play here but SHIBAEV got injured in the WTT Contender. I had my return flight booked for 5 March but my coach told me not to go home but to stay here until the 18th. I told him come on I don’t even have rubbers for more than one tournament! So I stayed and played this Olympic qualification tournament for the first time and of course it’s very stressful. It was the same for Paul DRINKHALL it was stressful for him as well because this is a very important tournament as only four players can qualify for the Olympics. So I felt unbelievably under pressure like I said it is for the Olympics! I am just really happy that I could keep up with the pressure until the end. You could see almost every set was 10-10. Then I was leading 3:1 and had two match points that I couldn’t convert so after that it was really difficult psychologically to play. But I am really happy that I could just keep this up especially against Paul who has so much experience so I am very happy with my win and I will just try to show my best in the next round ” said SIDORENKO.
It was definitely good morning for Russia’s representatives. Kirill SKACHKOV beat Austrian no.3 seed Robert GARDOS in straight games (11-7 11-7 12-10 11-8). Facing a vastly experienced opponent seeded 10 positions higher SKACHKOV secured semi final spot where he will meet Greece’s Panagiotis GIONIS in the afternoon.
Top seeded player in the Women’s Singles Event Britt EERLAND went full distance against Chile’s Paulina VEGA (11-8 5-11 8-11 11-7 11-7 8-11 11-6). She will meet Spain’s Galia DVORAK seeded 16th who halted Prithika PAVADE’s progress. However it was nothing but easy encounter against French teenager (3-11 12-10 11-6 4-11 11-9 9-11 11-9).
For the men’s singles qualification three spots will be available for qualification in stage one. Entries will be split into three knockout rounds starting from the round of 32 with the winner of each knockout round qualifying for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
The losing finalist and semi-finalist from each of the three knockouts will then proceed to stage two where one final spot is available. The losing finalist and semi-finalists from each of the three knockout rounds will then be drawn into one final knockout round where the winner will eventually qualify for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
For the women’s singles four spots are available for qualification in stage one. Entries will be split into four knockouts starting from the round of 16 with the winner of each knockout qualifying for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
The losing finalist from each of the four knockouts will proceed to stage two where one final spot is at stake. The losing finalist from each of the four knockouts will be drawn into one final knockout where the winner will qualify for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
