Runze Yan leads the charge as an influx of Oceania athletes compete in Mongolia.
Players from New Zealand in Australia are competing in the Mongolia International Challenge 2019 this week.
Australia’s Runze Yan will be the first player on court at 9am on Tuesday 25 June in the Men’s Singles qualifications. As the first seeded player in the qualification rounds, the odds lie in Yan’s favour against Kazakhstan’s Khaitmurat Kulmatov. The winner will secure a spot in the main draw against Vietnam’s Le Duc Phat on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the Men’s Singles, three players from Oceania have made it into the main draw and will open their campaign in the first round on Wednesday 26 June:
- Daniel Fan (AUS) vs Kyrylo Leonov (UKR)
- Abhinav Manota (NZL) vs Qualifier 4
- Anthony Joe (AUS) vs Qualifier 5
Manota will also be in main draw action in the Men’s Doubles with fellow compatriot, Oliver Leydon-Davis. The two players have their eyes set on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and will have to overcome the fifth seeds and world number 63 pair from Japan to get the ball rolling in Mongolia:
- Abhinav Manota/Oliver Leydon-Davis (NZL) vs Yoshinori Takeuchi/Keiichiro Matsui (JPN) [5]
Meanwhile, Australia’s Qin Jinjing will be looking for another boost to her world ranking as she competes in the Women’s Singles. Since March 2019, Qin has climbed over 400 places in the world rankings (from 590 to 188) and would benefit greatly over a first round win against the fifth seed in Mongolia:
- Qin Jinjing (AUS) vs Supanida Katethong (THA) [5]
Follow the progress of all players on Tournament Software.
