by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
In a group competition involving three teams, a three-nil win was recorded in the opening contest against the pairing of Egypt’s Razan Fawzi and Algeria’s Tikouk Maroua; however, in their next contest it was a total reverse outcome.
A three-nil defeat was experienced at the hands of India’s Manushree Patil, Selena Selvakumar and Kushi Vishwanath.
Selena Selvakumar accounted for Abir Haj Salah (11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5) to give her team the ideal start; Manushree Patil followed suit by overcoming Fadwa Garci (11-5, 11-6, 11-8), before Kushi Vishwanath ended matters by defeating Manel Baklouti (4-11, 11-9, 11-4, 13-11).
Manushree Patil, Selena Selvakumar and Kushi Vishwanath face Tikouk Maroua and Razan Fawzi in the concluding contest.
Meanwhile, in the Cadet Girls’ Team event, where there are two groups in the initial stage, the top two outfits in each group advancing to the semi-finals; Italy’s Elisa Armanini and Evelyn Vivarelli, alongside the Egypt ‘A’ Team pairing of Farida Badawy and Hana Goda completed their first phase contests unbeaten.
Elisa Armanini and Evelyn Vivarelli recorded a three-nil wins against the Egypt ‘B’ Team trio of Sondous Amin, Jana Wagih and Roa Zaki, before concluding the opening day with victory by the same margin in opposition to the Tunisia ‘B’ Team outfit formed by Farah Mahjoub, Ferdaoues Manaa and Maram Zoghlami.
Egypt ‘B’ meets Tunisia ‘B’ to determine second place.
Similarly, Farida Badawy and Hana Goda overcame the Tunisia ‘C’ Team pairing of Zaineb Gharsalli and Moka Riahi by three matches to nil, prior to recording a three-one success in opposition to the Tunisia ‘A’ combination of Samar Hichri and Islam Wenaiss. The one win for the hosts was recorded in the first match of the fixture when Islam Wenaiss overcame Hana Goda (12-10, 6-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7).
The absence of the United States pairing of Angie Tan and Emily Tan means the contest between the two Tunisian outfits will determine second place.
All team events conclude on Tuesday 4th April.
Photos: Mokhtar Hmima
