Connor Green and Tin-Tin Ho saved five match points in a 3-2 mixed-doubles victory over Croatia’s Ivan Hencl and Dora Cosic at WTT Feeder Linz, surviving a 17-15 deciding game after trailing 5-0.
The English pair, the top seeds in the event in Austria, recovered from two separate deficits in a last-16 contest which swung repeatedly before they converted their fourth match point in the decider. Their 4-11, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 17-15 win gives them a dramatic opening success as they pursue another WTT mixed-doubles title.
Green and Ho recover after first-game setback
Hencl and Cosic broke away from 3-3 with a seven-point run and took the first game 11-4.
Green and Ho responded with an 11-6 second game to level the match, but Hencl and Cosic regained the advantage by winning the third 11-9. The English pair had already shown their resilience in that game, saving four game points before their opponents eventually moved 2-1 ahead.
The fourth game then placed Green and Ho under still greater pressure. They saved two match points and took the game 12-10, forcing a deciding fifth game rather than allowing the Croatians to complete the upset over the leading seeds.
A 17-15 finish after a 5-0 deficit
The deciding game brought another sharp change in momentum. Green and Ho were 5-0 down at the change of ends, but worked back to level terms at 7-7.
After drawing level, neither pair could establish a decisive lead before the game reached 12-12. Hencl and Cosic then created three more match points, all of which Green and Ho saved.
Having escaped those chances, Green and Ho eventually took their own fourth opportunity to close out the contest, winning the deciding game 17-15. The two saved match points in the fourth game and three in the fifth account for the five match points they overcame across the match.
The scoreline underlines how narrow the margin was: Green and Ho lost two games, faced match points in two others and had to overturn an early five-point gap in the decider. The result is therefore a hard-earned progression from their opening mixed-doubles tie, rather than a completed title run.
Top seeds target another WTT mixed title
Green and Ho arrived in Linz as the top mixed-doubles seeds and are seeking to repeat their victory at WTT Feeder Düsseldorf in March. Table Tennis England said that Düsseldorf success made them the first English pair to win a WTT mixed title.
Both players also have singles commitments in Linz. Ho is the fourth seed in the women’s singles and was listed to face Austrian wildcard Sophia Pichler in the round of 32. Green, seeded sixth in the men’s singles, was due to play a qualifier in his last-32 opener.
Table Tennis England listed Ho at world No 80 and Green at world No 122 in its Linz preview. The Austrian Table Tennis Association’s schedule also listed Ho against Pichler in the women’s singles round of 32, while Green’s opponent was due to emerge from qualification. Those singles draws are separate from the mixed-doubles event, but show that both players entered the Linz main draw with more than one campaign to manage.
Ho also entered the women’s doubles alongside Slovakia’s Tatiana Kukulkova. Table Tennis England listed the pair as top seeds for a last-16 match against India’s Taneesha Kotecha and Sayali Wani.
Green was also scheduled to play men’s doubles with Poland’s Mateusz Zalewski. The fifth seeds were listed to face Luxembourg pair Tom Scholtes and Mael Van Dessel in the last 16, giving Green another doubles commitment alongside the mixed event.
Table Tennis England said Green had previously partnered Van Dessel to doubles bronze at the European Under-21 Championships in June. That earlier partnership adds a specific point of familiarity to Green’s men’s-doubles draw, although it is separate from his mixed-doubles campaign with Ho.
Their mixed-doubles escape keeps the pair’s attempt to add to their Düsseldorf achievement alive, while their respective singles draws offer separate opportunities in the Linz main draw.