by Simon Daish
Doubles Satisfaction for Czech Combinations
Eight partnerships from the Czech Republic participated in the last 32 across the Girls’ Doubles (three pairs) and Boys’ Doubles (five pairs) events, with six of the Czech duos progressing through to the next stage.
Kristyna Penkavova and Niamh Stricova were one of three Girls’ Doubles teams from the Czech Republic to succeed after they overcame Poland’s Zuzanna Koziol and Zuzanna Sulek in four ends.
There was also a three-one victory for another Czech duo as Jana Vasendova and her partner Klara Witoszova inflicted defeat on Austria’s Chen Sofia Lu and Sarah Ender, while the Czech Republic’s Martina Novakova and Linda Zaderova made it a perfect day for the country in the category after they beat Poland’s Zuzanna Gaworska and Elizbieta Kwiatkowska in straight games.
The Boys’ Doubles bared witness to rather a mixed day for the Czech teams; Simon Belik and Jan Mokrejs along with another two of the Czech Republic’s duos safely negotiated their Round of 32 fixtures, however, there were losses for two combinations from the country: Filip Karel and Adam Stalzer, and Richard Sikl and Dalibor Skopal.
‘A’ Grades for Chinese Taipei ‘A’ Teams
Seeded first in both competitions Chinese Taipei ‘A’ successfully secured the Boys’ Teams and Girls’ Teams trophies, after claiming three-nil wins in both finals.
Interestingly the opposition for Chinese Taipei ‘A’ in either final was Chinese Taipei ‘B’ as two international derbies were played out in Bratislava.
The Boys’ Team match was a dominant display from Chinese Taipei ‘A’ with Feng Yi-Hsin and Tai Ming-Wei picking up singles wins against the Chinese Taipei ‘B’ Team of Huang Yan-Cheng and Huang Hung-Chou, before the four competitors were involved in a doubles tie that also went to the ‘A’ side to complete a thee-nil victory.
Likewise, the Girls’ Team final also finished three-nil in favour of Chinese Taipei ‘A’, the encounter with Chinese Taipei ‘B’ was actually a closer contest than the end scoreline may suggest. Chien Tung-Chuan gave the ‘A’ side the lead with a straight games win against Chang Ju-Chia but both Tsai Yu-Chin’s success over Huang Yu-Jie in the singles, and the doubles win required the deciding games before Chinese Taipei ‘A’ were able to claim their grip on the trophy.
Singles Qualification Round Concluded
Seeds nine-21 in the Boys’ Singles all managed to top their respective groups; Ireland’s Owen Cathcart (10th seed) saw off Martin Petrov (BUL) and Robert Klingspor Mattson (SWE) in group two, while Jules Cavaille (ninth),Olav Kosolosky (13th seed) and Maciej Kubik (17th) all progressed. The top eight seeds are qutomatically placed in the main draw for the Boys Singles.
Tsai Yu-Chin (TPE), who is seeded first for the Girls’ Singles, took both of her group one matches in straight games, while the host nation’s Dasa Sinkarova (sixth) finished top of group six. However, there was a shock outcome in group seven as Lithuania’s Kornelija Riliskyte (seeded seventh) was reduced to third spot with Jana Vasendova (joint 20th) taking first position.
