Tom Jarvis left the WTT Singapore Smash at the first hurdle when he encountered an impressive Kirill Gerassimenko.
Gerassimenko (WR 75), from Kazakhstan, had completed three qualifying rounds to take his place in the Round of 64, while Jarvis (WR 66) had a wildcard into the main draw.
The momentum Gerassimenko had built continued as he won the first four points of the match and maintained a lead of at least two points in winning the first games 11–7.
He trailed by just one point in the second game, and four straight points from 4–4 gave him the cushion to go ahead and win 11–8.
Jarvis won the first three points of the third and then led 5-2. His opponent fought back to lead 7–5 and although Jarvis was tied at 7–7, Gerassimenko won four of the next five points to complete his victory and set up a match against third seed Lin Shidong of China, which he lost in three consecutive matches.
Wales and GB’s Anna Hursey is also competing in Singapore and came through her first round match against India’s Sreeja Akula 3-1 (11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5). She will next play fifth seed Kuai Man from China on Table 2 on Wednesday at 11.10am UK time.
Follow the event on the WTT YouTube channel.
Result
Men’s singles
Round of 64
Kirill Gerassimenko (KAZ) vs Tom Jarvis 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-8)
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