Three Portuguese table tennis players, all Olympians, advanced in the singles draw and one pair progressed in men’s doubles at the WTT Feeder event in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, on Friday.
João Geraldo, Marcos Freitas, and Tiago Apolónia all secured spots in the singles Round of 16.
Apolónia and Freitas also progressed to the men’s doubles quarterfinals.
Apolónia, ranked 93rd globally, defeated Malaysia’s Wong Qi Shen (164th) in straight sets, 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 12-10).
Freitas, ranked 99th, overcame Japan’s Hiromu Kobayashi (275th) in a five-set match, winning 3-2 (8-11, 11-5, 19-17, 6-11, 11-5).
Geraldo, 101st in the world, beat Croatia’s Frane Kojic (384th) with a 3-0 victory (11-8, 11-8, 12-10).
In men’s doubles, the pair of Apolónia and Freitas defeated Argentina’s Martin Bentancor and Santiago Lorenzo 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-8).
Other Portuguese players faced elimination in the tournament. Tiago Abiodun and Clement Laine lost their men’s doubles match 3-1 to South Koreans Daeseong and Minhyeok.
João Geraldo and Mariana Santa Comba were eliminated in the mixed doubles quarterfinals, falling 3-0 to Malaysia’s Qi Shen and Ai Xin.
The women’s doubles team of Mariana Santa Comba and Júlia Leal lost in the Round of 16 to Croatia’s Jeger and Rakovac, 3-2.
Tiago Abiodun, Rafael Kong, and Carlos Gonçalves were eliminated from the men’s singles draw. Matilde Pinto and Mariana Santa Comba also exited the women’s singles competition.