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Late November
The end-of-the-year challenger rush is on. The next-to-last week has Prakash Mooljee playing at a tier-3 in Salzburg(indoors). It was the usual; he waltzed his way through the draw as the top seed while losing immediately in a close qualifying doubles match. He'll have another tournament next week to wind up his season.
World Tour Finals Preview
The top spot is secure with Iglar, but Benda has taken over #2 by just over 100 points so that's very much up for grabs between him and Iglar. Girsh and Marcek are all but locked into the 4th and 5th spots, looking for a strong finish to set them up for the next year. At the bottom, first-time qualifier Smitala, two-time semifinalist Gaskell, and Thiago Herrera could finish in any order depending on what happens here; any win for any of them is big with just 205 points separating the trio. For the most though it's the same cast of characters; only Girsh among the younger players, and he's really reached his prime now as far as that goes, has managed to crash the party. He had a very bad practice week leading up to the Finals, so that's a definite concern.
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