by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Success, it was somewhat different to earlier in the day when in the opening round of the Women’s Singles event Adina Diaconu, the no.1 seed, had lost to Germany’s Chantal Mantz, the no.3 seed (11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 7-11, 12-10, 12-10) and Andreea Dragoman, the no.6 seed, had experienced a similar fate. She was beaten by Russian qualifier, Ekaterina Guseva (11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10).

At the semi-final stage Adina Diaconu and Andreea Dragoman meet the combination of Russia’s Ekaterina Guseva and the Czech Republic’s Zdena Blaskova; the quarter-final winners over Estonia’s Airi Avameri and Austria’s Karoline Mischek (11-8, 7-11, 13-11, 11-5).

In the opposite half of the draw the Eline Loyen and Lisa Lung oppose the Belarus partnership of Alina Nikitchanka and Hanna Patseyeva. Notably Eline Loyen and Lisa Lung dented the hopes of the host nation at the quarter-final stage by overcoming Maria Malanina and Mariia Tailakova (9-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-4).

Similarly, Alina Nikitchanka and Hanna Patseyeva impressed. In the round of the last eight, they beat Poland’s Julia Slazak and Anna Wegrzyn (11-9, 4-11, 13-11, 11-8), the second round winners agaonst Germany’s Chantal Mantz and Wan Yuan, the no.2 seed.

It was a contest in which the Polish duo performed a quite remarkable recovery. They lost the first three games comfortably before recovering to secure a full distance five games win by the very narrowest of margins (3-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-7, 15-13).

Play at the Stag 2017 European Under 21 Championships concludes on Sunday 5th February.

Latest results: Stag European Under 21 Championships.