Tt Legend Jean-Michel Saive Lost On First Round Of Brazil Open (Videos)

The third day of the 2012 Brazil Open had the Round 32 of the Men Singles where results posted came with no surprise. Meanwhile, the Men Doubles reached their quarterfinal round with seeded pairs extending their exposure as well.      

Hugo Calderano vs Jean-Michel Saive
video kindly shared by MrTheportal

There were no problems for the seeded players in the Round 32 of the Men Singles as they went through the hurdle with safety. However, for the Belgian legend, Jean-Michel Saive, it was the other way around as he was ousted rather early from the competition. 

The killer was the Brazilian Hugo Calderano who posted an impressive performance with 11-8, 11-9, 11-7, and 12-10, leading him further into the competition and making him the only survivor among the qualifiers.   

Victories followed after Calderano's. The seeded hosts did what was expected from them and that is to have a longer exposure as much as possible. Cazuo Matsumoto, Gustavo Tsuboi, Thiago Monteiro, and Hugo Hoyama remained intact into the Round 16.   

However, players from foreign land are not to be taken for granted as they showed strength in the round as well. Top on the list are the South Koreans who are also the top seeds in the competition. Joo Sae Hyuk, Oh Sang Eun and Ryu Seung Min all got their seats in the Round 16 with their sweep victories, making them promising for the London Olympics.  

The Indian Team made their presence felt in the qualifying stage but in the main draw, only their seeded players prevailed. The team will be represented by Amalraj Anthony, Soumyajit Ghosh, and Subhajit Saha.      

More victories were posted by foreigners in Santos. Portuguese and fourth seed Marcos Freitas, French and fifth seed Emmanuel Lebesson, and 14th seed Marc Duran from Spain all had a rather easy round.   

Meanwhile, eleventh seed Lubomir Pistej of Slovakia was tested by the Indian Harmeet Desai. After seven sets, Pistej claimed his ticket into the Round 16. Ninth seed Allan Bentsen almost had the same fate. He defeated Soumyadeep Roy of India in six sets.  

As for the Men Doubles, it was only the seventh seeds, the Danish-Slovakian partnership of Allan Bentsen and Lubomir Pistej who had a rather short exposure in the competition. 

They were defeated in the Round 16 by the Belgian qualifiers Lauric Jean and Cedric Nuytinck in 11-9, 12-10, 11-13, 9-11, and 12-10. However, in the quarterfinal round, these brave qualifiers did not have a single chance against the seeded Brazilians Thiago Monteiro and Gustavo Tsuboi. 

Monteiro and Tsuboi advanced into the semifinals with a 4-0. The other Brazillian duo of Hugo Calderano and Cazuo Matsumoto were also equally impressive in the round with a 4-0 against Indian pair of Soumyadeep Roy and Subhajit Saha.    

Despite the successes of their top players, Brazil's Hugo Hoyama / Eric Mancini, fifth seed, and Humberto Manhani / Danilo Toma, third seed, were not able to carry out such success.   

Emmanuel Lebesson vs Humberto Manhani
video kindly shared by TableTennisEvents

South Koreans Oh Sang Eun and Ryu Seung Min swept the Hoyama-Mancini partnership while the Spanish-French tandem of Marc Duran and Emmanuel Lebesson overcame the third seeds Manhani and Toma. 

The Men Singles will resume on June 16, 13:00 local time, for the Round 16 while the Men Doubles will continue with their semifinal round on the same day, 10:45 local time. 

Photo source: www1.lesoir.be