The preliminary rounds of the Riga Open have been completed with no Irish amateurs being able to reach the last 128 in Latvia.
National champion Brendan O’Donoghue suffered a surprising 4-3 defeat to German unknown Roman Dietzel on Wednesday, while countrymen Dessie Sheehan, Daniel O’Regan and Tony Corrigan also exited before the opportunity to mix it with the pros.
Veteran Sheehan came within a frame of what would have been his second victory of the week, but fell in a decider to another German, Robin Otto.
World Under-21 Championship semi-finalist Josh Boileau withdrew following his exploits in Romania, and it’ll be interesting to see how that affects his EBSA Play-Off chances later in the season.
Elsewhere, ladies player Anna Prisjaznuka became one of only two home competitors through to the main draw after a brace of superb triumphs over Malta’s Brian Cini especially, and then Artus Klindzans.
Prisjaznuka would perhaps have been hoping for a more glittering tie as a reward for her efforts, but instead she’s been drawn to play tour stalwart Mike Dunn.
Fellow Latvian Rodion Judin also made it through to set up a clash with Mark King.
Meanwhile, quite a lot of the big-name amateurs progressed.
Welshman Jamie Clarke put behind him the disappointment of losing in the dramatic World Under-21 final on Sunday with two wins in Riga to secure a meeting against Tom Ford.
Other well-known players like Sam Harvey, Kishan Hirani, Lukas Kleckers, Hammad Miah and Alex Borg were among the remaining amateurs to advance.
As is norm with the European Tour events, the top half of the draw will determine the first half of the last 16 line-up today, with the bottom half doing likewise on Saturday, before Sunday’s finale crowns the champion.
