Portuguese table tennis player Jieni Shao secured her spot in the second round of the WTT Star Contender tournament in Muscat, Oman, amidst mixed results for the national contingent.
Shao, ranked 56th globally, defeated India’s Diya Chitale, who is ranked 86th, in straight sets, 3-0. The scores were 11-8, 13-11, and 11-4.
Shao is now set to face Jian Zeng of Singapore, the 14th seed and world No. 39, in the round of 32 on Thursday.
Her compatriot, Fu Yu, ranked 58th, experienced an early exit from the singles main draw. Yu was defeated 3-1 by Sweden’s Christina Kallberg, ranked 100th.
The match concluded with scores of 8-11, 12-10, 6-11, and 8-11.
In the doubles competition, the pair of Fu Yu and Jieni Shao were eliminated in the round of 16. They lost a close 3-2 match to the Indian duo of Diya Chitale and Swastika Ghosh.
The final scores for the doubles match were 7-11, 13-11, 11-8, 5-11, and 12-10.