Austrian pair Daniel Habesohn and Robert Gardos triumphed over the Men’s Doubles world champions
Close battles were fought at Singapore Smash on Monday (14 March), culminating in the defeat of men’s world No. 9 Timo Boll and men’s doubles world champions Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson.
Swedes Falck and Karlsson lost 3-2 (11-3, 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-4) to Austrian pair Daniel Habesohn and Robert Gardos in the Round of 16, while world No. 49 Uda Yukiya of Japan saved a match point in Game 4 and turned the match around to beat German Boll 3-2 (11-8, 10-12, 10-12, 12-10, 11-5).
Gardos, 43, said: “In the beginning our tactics were quite clear, we both had very good feeling for the short shot balls. This was the key for the first and third games. But in the second and fourth games, somehow we could not manage because of the service receive. I was a little bit nervous and I think in doubles the service receive is very important. I think today we were better in (that area) and we had some good points. Our form today was just a little bit better than them, and that’s why we managed to win.”
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The 20-year-old Uda, who will face Lim Jonghoon from the Republic of Korea in the Round of 16 on Tuesday (15 March), said: “I’m really surprised that I managed to win against such a good player like Timo Boll and I’m still feeling quite shocked, but I’m sure this will give me the confidence to do well in my next few matches as well. It’s the Infinity Arena, it’s Table 1, I was playing against Timo Ball and there were also spectators watching — the environment is good for the players to play in and overall I’m just happy that I managed to win the match. I’m just going to bring my performance and form from today to tomorrow and hope to get a win again.”