by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
They finished ahead of the top seeded partnership formed by Canada’s Stephanie Chan and Germany’s Stephanie Grebe with the combination of Sweden’s Emelie Endre and Suzan Klomp of the Netherlands in third place.
Success against expectations and very much against expectations, Nora Korneliussen is only 17 years old and is a Class 7 player; thus she was competing against opponents with a much less disability.
Meanwhile, in one remaining categories in the Women’s Team event, it was success for the leading partnerships.
Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao Shu-Chin and Chen Su-Fen won Class 2-5; they finished ahead of pairings from the host nation. Pamela Fontaine and Tara Proffit secured second place, third position finished in the hands of Cynthia Ranii and Jennifer Johnson.
One surprise winner in the Women’s Team competition; it was the very same in the counterpart Men’s Team events.
However, it was a comparatively mild surprise. Chinese Taipei’s Wu Cheng-Sheng and Liu Cheng-Han, the second seeds, secured the Class 3 title beating the top rated French partnership of Stéphane Gil-Martins and Florian Paire by two matches to one at the final hurdle.
Success against the odds, in the other Men’s Team events, it was success according to the odds; the top seeds all justified their exalted status.
Korea’s Kim Mingyu, Nam Kiwon and Kim Hakjin combined to win Class 1-2; Germany’s Valentin Baus and Thomas Schmidberger secured the Class 4-5 title.
Gold for Geramany but it was Scandinavia that enjoyed the greatest success. Swedish men added three titles to the Norwegian success gained by Aida Dahlen and Nora Korneliussen.
Nicklas Westerberg and Michael Azulay won Class 6-7, Emil Andersson and Linus Karlsson secured the Class 8 title with Daniel Gustafsson and Anders Andersson reserving the top step of the medal podium in Class 9-10.
Proceedings concluded in Las Vegas brings the year to an end; the next Para Open Championships is in Italy; the 2017 Lignano Junior Tournament will be held on Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th February; the 2017 Lignano Masters from Wednesday 1st to Saturday 4th March.
2016 United States Para Open: Draw and Latest Results