City of Devonport Open: Hayashi Downs No.2 Seed Prott To Reach Last Eight

Japan’s Naoki Hayashi produced a stunning upset on day two of the City of Devonport Tasmanian Open as he overcame recent event winner and No.2 seed Alasdair Prott in a five game battle to reach the quarter finals.

After losing the first game, Hayashi responded well to steal the second game 12-10 and then take the lead over the Scot and put himself in a great position to advance. Despite Prott then equalising, the Japanese player got back to his attacking style of play and took the fifth game to secure the win.

Last week’s runner-up Dylan Molinaro continued his good form as he overcame compatriot Jack Hudson in straight games to again reach the quarter finals. The second game was the closest of the three with Hudson pushing Molinaro to 11-9 but the in-form Melbourne man was too strong as he took the other two games both 11-5.

Top seed Tomotaka Endo didn’t have things all his own way in his second round clash as he took on wildcard Brendan MacDonald for a spot in the last eight. The wildcard took the opening game in the contest 11-7 to delight the home crowd but Endo silenced them by taking the next three games 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 to seal a place in the quarter finals.

Results: City of Devonport Tasmanian Open 2023 – Round Two
[1] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt [WC] Brendan MacDonald (AUS) 3-1: 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 (30m)
[7] Ho Ka Hei (HKG) bt Shamil Wakeel (SRI) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-3 (28m)
[8] Lam Shing Fung (HKG) bt Mohamed Gohar (EGY)3-2: 11-5, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-4 (43m)
Paul Gonzalez (FRA) bt Sven Stettler (SUI) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 (27m)
[3] Harley Lam (HKG) bt Jaejin Yoo (KOR) 3-1: 11-8, 11-3, 6-11, 11-7 (43m)
Dylan Molinaro (AUS) bt Jack Hudson (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (24m)
[6] Elijah Thomas (NZL) bt Tate Norris (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 (42m)
Naoki Hayashi (JPN) bt [2] Alasdair Prott (SCO) 3-2: 6-11, 12-10, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7 (49m)

Draw: City of Devonport Tasmanian Open 2023 – Quarter Finals
[1] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) v [7] Ho Ka Hei (HKG)
[8] Lam Shing Fung (HKG) v Paul Gonzalez (FRA)
[3] Harley Lam (HKG) v Dylan Molinaro (AUS)
[6] Elijah Thomas (NZL) v Naoki Hayashi (JPN)