Last year there was a strong British party for a quartet of Asian Grade 1 events. This time just Jessica Ren and Manisha Foster, who negotiated qualifying, are here for the first of these. Jennifer Ren should be completing a four continent schedule within 2 months by joining Jess later on, whilst James Marsalek is on the entry lists for the other 3.
Manisha has a very tough opener against someone who has won both her tournaments this year without dropping a set.
Jess dropped out of the top 100 this week, as her points from winning the High Coast Grade 3 event last year were erased. She needs to win this match to reenter, and should have a reasonable chance given that the Japanese girl has not won many matches recently, losing to Daneika Borthwick in October.
