by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Impressively, in the first stage of proceedings not one individual match had been surrendered; in the second stage it was exactly the same scenario.
A semi-final walkover awarded against the outfit comprising Moldova’s Andrei Putuntica and Vladislav Ursu who joined forces with Keenan Southall reserved a place in the final.
In the final another command performance was witnessed when facing the combination formed by Italy’s Matteo Mutti, Portugal’s Vitor Amorin and Adar Alguetti of the United States.
Feng Yi-Hsin sets standard
Feng Yi-Hsin accounted for Matteo Mutti in three straight games (11-8, 11-9, 11-7), before Li Hsin-Yang followed suit to double the advantage; he overcame Adar Alguetti (11-3, 11-7, 11-6).
The momentum with the champions elect, Victor Liu concluded proceedings by beating Vitor Amorim (11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3).
“We are happy, of course. I think that all of us are relieved. We know each other very well, now for three years. We practise together a lot.” Victor Liu
Semi-final upset
Defeat at the final hurdle but the eventual silver medallists could be more than pleased with their efforts; at the semi-final stage they had caused a major upset by beating the top seeded Japanese outfit comprising Aoto Asazu, Yu Kayama and Takeru Kashiwa.
A hard fought contest was the scenario with the first two matches both being full distance duels.
Matteo Mutti beat Aoto Asazu (8-11, 12-10, 6-11, 14-12, 11-7), before Adar Alguett accounted for Yu Kayama by the very narrowest of margins (11-8, 11-13, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10).
Matters concluded with Vitor Amorim overcoming Takeru Kashiwa (10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5).
Play concludes
Team events over; play concludes on Sunday 18th September with the Cadet Boys’ Singles, Cadet Girls’ Singles, Cadet Boys’ Doubles and Cadet Girls’ Doubles events.
