During this second day of competition at the Orleans Masters, the French once again put on a show. With 9 matches won out of 12, the result is very satisfactory for the blue clan.
In the women's category :
The French women have performed well for their entry into the competition. This morning, QI Xuefei won 21/6 21/10 against Daniela MACIAS. Confidence gained before facing in the second round the world n°13, Busanan ONGBAMRUNGPHAN. In the same way, Yaëlle HOYAUX from Fossé made short work of Nairoby Abigail JIMENEZ 21/5 21/8. In the next round, the American Iris WANG will be waiting for her. Like her compatriots, Ophélia CASIER went for her victory. The young Frenchwoman beat the Englishwoman Freya REDFEARN 7/21 22/20 21/17. Could she do the same tomorrow against the top seed, Pornpawee CHOCHUWONG?
The youngsters Malya HOAREAU and Camille POGNANTE (14 years old) made an express entry into the competition. Opposed to the title holders Lauren SMITH/Chloe BIRCH, they did not make the weight, losing 21/7 21/6.
Finally, Marie BATOMENE fought hard to win her first set, before winning the second, 23/21 21/4, against Ksenia POLIKARPOVA. A match acquired before crossing paths with Saina NEHWAL in the next round. On the other hand, Léonice HUET lost to the Indian IRA SHARMA 21/12 14/21 17/21.
In the men's category :
Without forcing, the POPOV brothers, Christo and Tomi, added a new victory to their counter, they had already won in singles earlier in the day. Against the Algerians BELARBI/HAMEK (n°200), they won 21/13 21/15. To qualify for the quarter-finals, they will first have to overcome the Danes NOHR/ CHRISTIANSEN.
For their second round, Brice LEVERDEZ and Toma Junior POPOV quickly ousted their opponents. 21/19 21/15 against Max WEISSKIRCHEN for the first and 21/7 21/17 against PARUPALLI Kashyap for the second. In the 3rd round, the French n°1 will meet the Indian Kiran GEORGE (n°112), who caused a sensation after having eliminated Mark CALJOUW, and Tomi will be opposed to Philip Illum KLINDT. Thomas ROUXEL and Christo POPOV had a different scenario. Badly treated by the Englishman Harry HUANG, Thomas did not give up, 25/23 5/21 21/18. As for Christo, the Danish JOHANNESEN gave him a hard time, 16/21 21/9 21/17. For Yanis GAUDIN, the step was too high against the Thai Kunlavut VITIDSARN. He lost in 2 sets, 13/21 12/21.
As for the other matches, there were few surprises, except for the Indonesian sensation Putri Kusuma Wardani, who came from the qualifiers and got the best of the German Yvonne Li, seeded n°7 in three tight sets. The Indian Prannoy H.S., also lost to his compatriot Kiran George, who was surprisingly good at the beginning of the tournament after his victory over Mark Caljouw the day before.
