by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Likewise, the third seeds, the Czech Republic trio comprising Vastimil Buben, Jiri Martinko and Jan Valenta remained unbeaten to top their group.
However, for the Slovak Republic trio of Tibor Spanik, Markus Tonkovic and Jakub Zelinka there was to be no main draw place. They experienced three-one defeats in both contests.
In the early afternoon they were beaten by the trio comprising Montenegro’s Filip Radovic who teamed with Japan’s Hiroto Shinozuka and Haruki Miyamoto, prior to experiencing the same fate when confronting the Ireland’s Owen Cathcart, Conor Gallagher and Alexander Gillen.
Filip Radovic, Hiroto Shinozuka and Haruki Miyamoto finished in first place in the group; in their opening contest of the day, they accounted for Ireland by three matches to one. Haruki Miyamoto, the one member of the successful outfit to remain unbeaten throughout the day, proved the backbone of success against the Irish. He accounted for Alexander Gillen (11-3, 11-5, 11-1) and Owen Cathcart (11-8, 11-4, 11-5).
Day Three at the 2017 Czech Junior and Cadet Open
A surprise first place but it was not the only surprise first place in the group phase.
Azerbaijan’s Wang Chenxi and Yang Xinyu, topped their group against expectations as did the Austrian trio formed by Christian Friedrich, Maciej Kolodziejczyk and Mikael Trink.
Likewise against the odds, it was top spot for the Poland ‘A’ trio comprising Artur Grela, Kamil Nalepa and Przemyslaw Walaszek.
First place for Austria, first posittion for Poland and as the evening concluded, quarter-final places were booked.
Both teams were required to fulfil first round fixtures in order to reserve a last eight place.
Artur Grela, Kamil Nalepa and Przemyslaw Walaszek combined to beat the eighth seeds, Portugal’s Vitor Amorim, José Pedro Francisco and Samuel da Silva by three matches to one. In a similar vein Christian Friedrich, Maciej Kolodziejczyk and Mikael Trink defeated the Romania ‘A’ Team trio of Paul Mladin, Dragos Florin Oprea and Florin Spelbus.
Both were upsets; the Portuguese started proceedings at the no.8 seeds, the Romanians, the no.10 seeds. Conversely, Austria occupied the no.12 seeded position, Poland one place below.
Proceedings in the Junior Boys’ Team event concludes on Saturday 11th February; only the outfits finishing in first place in each group advanced to the main draw.
Photos: Czech Table Tennis Association / Jan Brychta
