by Simon Daish

Seeded fourth for the competition the combination of Maciej Kubik and Samuel Kulczycki went into the final as the slight favourites for the title, but a strong outing from Olav Kosolosky and Adrien Rassenfosse made for a terrific showdown in Metz.

Both pairings set a similar level at the start of the tie, and despite Kubik and Kulczycki claiming the opening game in deuce their opponents struck back with their capture of game two.

Looking to put some distance between themselves and their opponents, Kubik and Kulczycki raised their performance in the third end and managed to pull ahead. However, yet again Kosolosky and Rassenfosse responded well as they won by a four point margin in the fourth game to send the final into a deciding game.

Neither pairing could be separated after the opening 20 points in the decider so deuce was required, and it was Kubik and Kulczycki who came out on top in the mental battle with the next two points going to the Polish duo to bring the tie to a conclusion (12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 12-10).

Hong Kong’s Chau Wing Sze and Lee Ka Yee proved to be the successful partnership in the Cadet Girls’ Doubles tournament, after they registered a dominant victory over Ece Harac and Ozge Yilmaz of Turkey to claim the silverware.

Ece Harac and Ozge Yilmaz headed into the final seeded two spots below their opponents in waiting, but the Turkish combination had enjoyed success earlier in the day against a partnership from Hong Kong as they saw off Ng Wing Lam and Poon Yat in the semi-finals. Chau Wing Sze and Lee Ka Yee defeated the host nation’s Isa Cok and Lou Frete in their semi-finals encounter.

The final itself was a fairly one-sided duel with Chau Wing Sze and Lee Ka Yee putting in a fine performance throughout the tie, and while there were glimpses of potential from Ece Harac and Ozge Yilmaz it was the Hong Kong pairing that stole the show in straight games (11-5, 11-9, 11-6).