Adrien Rassenfosse vs Omar Assar | MS R32 | #WTTAstana 2026

Strong attacks, Europe smash. He took out Liang Jing-Kun. 3-0 the Belgian. 2003 World Champion Werner Schlager at the start of this season. But you no longer see Schlager there. Nice blocking shot from Assar. What a win it was for her. Ongiedi, top seed here on the women's side. Then when you're taking on the World Youth Champion Ryusei Kawakami later on. That one's going to be a great match. Come back into the picture. On serve again. Scratch entrant. It didn't look very prepared, I'll say that. Probably a little bit jet-lagged. Probably a little bit tired. Looked a little bit flat by his standards. Better play from Rasenfoss. Just gradually getting into the point. You can do that against Assar. Rasenfoss shouldn't be too threatened by Assar's power in the early stages of points. The Egyptian, you have to stay relaxed to be able to recover against him. What a shot that is. A fortune for Adria. For Assar from Dessouk. It's always nice to have a sibling who plays, isn't it? I wish I had that. Oh, yeah. Good for a guy of his size in table tennis. Deserves a lot of credit for that because it is not easy. Keep it tight. When he goes long, go long. Be prepared to recover. Smart play from Assar. Poor serve and it's punished. Jim Rasenfoss, 66 in the world. And the first round by Satya Nenasekaran of India. Also played the star contender, Muscat. It's beaten by Christian Kopp. Oh, Adria Rasenfoss here. Out in front of him to generate any real kind of quality. Oh, lightning on the back. This is what he can do. Clever shot from Rasenfoss. Much better here. Oh, wow. Rally of the match. Oh, 10-15 more shots. Down the line, Assar. Look at the way he contorts. Wow, yeah. So, could Assar nip this in the bud? Matrix movement. Oh, what a backhand from Rasenfoss. Really at least a game number four. Oh, the forehand goes long. Yeah. Brilliant there from Adria Rasenfoss. Rocket backhand from Omer. Again into the middle of Omer. Went wider. Where he left off after winning the previous game. Just not recovering. To the fortune. Through the leap. The counter play from the Belgian. And he's within one. Good composure in between them when it comes to ability. Good touch, good spin. Oh, and he levels. The fact that Adrian has the serve must help him, surely. What will he do with it? He goes long. Oh, he goes long and it was... He's taken it. Rasenfoss to get here. He beat the German trickster, Riccardo Walter, in his first round. Against the 11th seed, Omar Assar. Oh, well dealt with off the net, caught there by... Put it away. Ooh. They're going to leave no stone unturned. Nice taquita there from Rasenfoss. Assar just a bit more aggressive right now. Ooh, yeah. Good touch there from Rasenfoss. The flare with the flick. They're just two. Mmm. Long with the serve. Play shots from seemingly impossible positions. I question how badly these two want this. Better there with the backhand, especially from Rasenfoss. He gets a bit of fortune right back. He's levelled from 6-1 down to 9 points, Rasenfoss. And now he's got serve as well. What a comeback. It's Omar Assar. Brilliant soft spin there from the Belgian. Second match point. And he goes down the line, Omar Assar. So grateful to be through to the next round here in Astana. He's got his revenge from Skopje. He's beaten Adrian Rasenfoss. What a comeback it was from the Belgian.