by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
After having been extended the full distance by the Swedish duo of Jennie Edvinsson and Rebecca Muskantor one day earlier in the group stage of proceedings, on the second day, the French trio surrendered just one individual match; that was in the very first contest of the day when Celia Silva was beaten by Natalia Brinza in the quarter-final engagement against Moldova.
Comprehensive wins
Otherwise, there were no blemishes; at the semi-final stage a three-nil win was posted against the combination of Poland’s Agata Paszek and Guatemala’s Lucia Cordero, before the same margin of victory was recorded in opposition to Germany.
Cloe Chomis gave France the ideal start by beating Anastasia Bondareva (11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-3); Prithika Pavade doubled the lead when overcoming Sophia Klee (11-5, 11-8, 11-9), before Cloe Chomis teamed with Celia Silva to secure the doubles (12-10, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5).
Impressive performances
An impressive performance from France; Anastasia Bondareva and Sophia Klee had also impressed in the main draw, recording three-one wins in both the quarter and semi-final rounds.
In the round of the last eight teams, they overcame Jennie Edvinsson and Rebecca Muskantor, before in the penultimate round defeating the Slovenia ‘A’ Team formation of Lara Opeka, Lea Paulin and Katarina Strazar.
Full distance final
A comprehensive win for France in the Cadet Girls’ Team event; in the counterpart Cadet Boys’ Team competition it was quite the antithesis. A three-two victory margin was the end result in favour of Daniel Rinderer and Kay Stumper in opposition to the United States combination of Gal Alguetti and Sharon Alguetti, the winners the previous week in Croatia.
Daniel Rinderer partnered Kay Stumper to gold in the Cadet Boys’ Singles event (Photo: Danilo Kesic)
Very much a team effort was the order of the day; as in Croatia, Sharon Alguetti was most impressive. He beat both Daniel Rinderer (11-5, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6) and Kay Stumper (8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-2).
Alas for the Americans that was their only success. Gal Alguetti experienced in what proved the pivotal contest. In the second match of the fixture, he was beaten in five games by Kay Stumper (13-11, 8-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-7), before in the concluding match in the fixture experiencing defeat when facing Daniel Rinderer (11-5, 11-6, 11-9).
Earlier, the doubles contest had been won by the Germans in four games (11-3, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10).
Less demanding
Success for Daniel Rinderer and Kay Stumper in a hard fought final; en route matters had been less demanding.
At the quarter-final stage they had beaten the Slovenia ‘B’ Team pairing of Marcel Segula and Ziga Zion by three matches to nil, before recording the same margin of victory in opposition to Croatia’s Ivor Ban and Filip Borovnjak.
Meanwhile, in the opposite half of the draw Gal Alguetti and Sharon Alguetti had overcome the Slovenia ‘A’ Team pairing of Matija Novel and Rok Trtnik by three matches to one, prior to recording a three-nil win in opposition to the combination of Chile’s Gustavo Castillo who partnered Croatia’s Leo Vekic.
Individual events
Play in the Cadet Boys’ Team and Cadet Girls’ Team events over; attention now turns to the individual competitions. Proceedings conclude on Sunday 25th September.
