by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Proceedings concluded with an emphatic two-nil win against the pairing of Great Britain’s Lucie Bouron and Russia’s Nadejda Pushpasheva; however, earlier in the path to gold, they had been tested.

They needed the full three matches to overcome Gu Xiaodan and Yang Zhonghui; Borislava Peric-Rankovic, the winner earlier in the week of Women’s Singles Class 4, accounted for Yang Zhonghui in the deciding match of the contest (11-5, 11-6, 11-3), after the Serbians had secured the doubles (11-4, 11-5, 11-3) and Nada Matic had been beaten by Gu Xiaodan (11-3, 12-10, 11-6).

“The tournament was very good for me, I like it here. I think played well here and I am happy with what I did. It was my first time in Cluj and if I will ever have the chance, I would like to come back”, Gu Xiaodan

Success for the top seeds, in Class 6-10, there was an upset; Romania’s Ioana-Monica Tepelea and Teodora Preda, not listed amongst the top pairings secured gold.

After recording a two matches to one victory over Norway’s Aida Dahlen and Nora Korneliussen, the second seeds, the did exactly the same when they met again in the final.

“We met the Norwegian girls in the group and we won two-one; we knew that the final was going to be more difficult due to the fact that the Norwegians wanted revenge. They knew our style, so we felt a bit of pressure; from my perspective, I came to this tournament to check on my level and I have the feeling that I improved. It is always a pleasure to come here in Cluj to play”, Teodora Preda

The result meant that Ioana-Monica Tepelea departed Cluj-Napoca as the most successful player on duty. Earlier in the proceedings, she had won Women’s Singles Class 6-10 in the junior tournament, before in the senior competition, clinching the Women’s Singles Class 8-10 gold.

“I have been coming to the tournament for six years already and I feel very good here; this is the tournament where I feel the best. This year I am happy with how I played, I had both easy and difficult matches”, Ioana-Monica Tepelea

Impressively, Ioana-Monica Tepelea, only 17 years old, completed the whole five days of play in Cluj-Napoca unbeaten.

2017 Romanian Para International Championships: Full Results – Men’s Junior Singles Events (Tuesday 21st March)

2017 Romanian Para International Championships: Full Results – Women’s Junior Singles Events (Tuesday 21st March)

2017 Romanian Para International Championships: Full Results – Men’s Singles Events (Friday 24th March)

2017 Romanian Para International Championships: Full Results – Women’s Singles Events (Friday 24th March)

2017 Romanian Para International Championships: Full Results – Men’s Team Events (Saturday 25th March)

2017 Romanian Para International Championships: Full Results – Women’s Team Events (Saturday 25th March)