Puerto Rican teenager Brian Afanador defied the odds to overcome home favourite Bojan Tokic in the first round of the ITTF Slovenia Open in Otocec ©ITTF/Cristian Larrain

Puerto Rican teenager Brian Afanador defied the odds to overcome home favourite Bojan Tokic in the first round of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Slovenia Open in Otocec.

The 19-year-old recorded an emphatic 11-8, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 victory against the number 10 seed Tokic, who was one of the biggest casualties on a day of upsets.

In the lower half of the men’s draw, Japan’s Tonin Ryuzaki - winner of the under-21 men’s singles title at last year’s ITTF Philippines Open - beat number 31 seed Sathiyan Gnanasekaran of India 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8.

Even more surprising was the success of Ryuzaki’s compatriot Tomokazu Harimoto as the 12-year-old overcame Romania’s Hunor Szocs 11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 11-1, 11-6 to reserve his place in the second round.

Another shock result saw 20-year-old Hungarian Adam Szudi end the aspirations of Spain’s Alvaro Robles, the number 22 seed, with a 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8 win.

There were no problems, however, for number two seed Chuang Chih-Yuan with the Taiwanese defeating Hungary’s Daniel Kriston 11-6, 14-12, 11-1, 11-4.

South Korea’s Lee Sangsu, the number four seed, triumphed 13-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 at the expense of Austria’s Alexander Chan, while fellow countryman Jung Young-sik, the number five seed, accounted for Germany’s Dennis Klein 11-6, 13-11, 11-4, 11-7.

Japan's Yuko Kato beat Romania's Bernadette Szocs in the first round of the women's competition
Japan's Yuko Kato beat Romania's Bernadette Szocs in the first round of the women's competition ©ITTF/Andrej Matic

There were also a major surprise in the women’s draw with 17-year-old qualifier Yuko Kato of Japan registering a 6-11, 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 victory over Romania’s Bernadette Szocs, the number 23 seed.

The win comes on what is only Kato’s second ITTF World Tour appearance of the year having lost against South Korea’s Choi Hyojoo in the first round of last week’s Zagreb Open.

Elsewhere, Athens 2004 Olympic bronze medallist Kim Kyungah of South Korea returned to the international scene after a break of almost four years to beat Germany’s Wu Jiaduo, the number 22 seed and former European champion, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6, 13-11.

Lily Zhang of the United States, the number 29 seed, recovered from a 3-0 deficit to beat India’s Manika Batra 9-11, 6-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-3, 13-11.

Singapore’s Zhou Yihan, 22, found herself 3-1 behind against 13-year-old Miyu Nagasaki of Japan but bounced back to win 11-9, 7-11, 12-14, 4-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5.

Top seed Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan beat Italy’s Le Thi Hong Loan 11-5, 11-1, 11-4, 11-4, while number two seed Feng Tianwei of Singapore beat India’s Pooja Sahasrabudhe 11-5, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3.