Sourabh Verma sails through to main draw of Hong Kong Open

Despite being ranked more than 40 places below the Indian, Lukas fought a close affair in Verma’s second qualifying match. The Frenchman led the score several times throughout the match but Verma dug deep into his resources on the crucial points to take both games 21-19.

Relatively speaking, his outing against Tanongsak, earlier in the day, was more comfortable. Tanongsak dealt blow-for-blow right from the get-go, with the match moving ahead on even footing. Although the player from Thailand led briefly at 8-8, Sourabh rallied back to get to the break a point ahead. From there on, he stayed ahead with ease and took the game by a seven-point margin.

Initially, the second game followed the same pattern as the first, with the Indian going into the break again with a one-point lead. Tanongsak was keen to make more out of the second game, fighting back to level the terms on four separate occasions — at 10-10, 11-11, 18-18 and 19-19 — but Sourabh clinched the final two points and sealed the win.