By Neha Aggarwal
Cadet girls’ champion: Lee Ka Yee
Ranked no.8 in the February 2017 Under-15 world ranking, Hong Kong’s Lee Ka Yee was also the top seeded played in the Cadet girls section. She rightly proved her dominance by winning over Sophia Klee of Germany, the no.24 ranked in the same category. Lee Ka Yee won in four games (11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-2), which looked like a rather comfortable victory.
Success for Lee Ka Yee, but it was also a great matter of pride for the German, who despite seeded seventh, made it to the finals. Sophia Klee beat Hong Kong’s mini cadet girls’ champion Poon Yat in the semi finals in a full distance match (5-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6, 11-8) to move to the finals.
Her other big win came in the quarter finals when she beat the third seed Chau Wing Sze also from Hong Kong which was one of the most thrilling matches of the day. She won in five games (16-14, 9-11, 11-3, 12-14,7-11).
The German was successful in breaking the Honk Kong dominance but Lee Ka Yee proved to be too strong. In the semi finals, she beat Russia’s Natalia Malinina in a match that went on till the last breath (11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 13-11) and in the quarter finals against Russia’s Elizabet Abraamian, despite struggling, she went on knocking her down in another five games thriller (11-2, 13-15, 5-11, 11-8,11-5).
Mini Cadet girls’ champion: Poon Yat
The mini cadet girls’ singles championship was a classic seeding encounter, with both the top seed and second seed making it to the penultimate stage. USA’s top seed Rachel Sung was surprised by the second seed from Hong Kong, Poon Yat who outstaged the higher ranked opponent in a rather dominating fashion winning in three straight games (10-12, 2-11, 3-11).
Interestingly, Poon Yat did not drop even a single game on road to victory. In the semi finals, she beat USA’s Joanna Sung (6-11, 3-11, 5-11) and the quarter finals seemed like a cake walk for her, as she won over Russia’s Vasilisa Danilova (9-11, 6-11, 9-11).
Certainly, it was a successful tournament for Poon Yat, she also reached the semi finals of the Cadet girls’ singles event.
Overall, Honk Kong emerged the most successful nation in these two categories.
The youngest player in the tournament, nine year old Egypt’s Hana Goda took home some happiness and success winning the cadet girls’ singles consolation event. She beat Norway’s Katarina Wetzel in an extremly tight match 3-2 (12-10, 11-9, 5-11, 9-11, 12-14)
