by Simon Daish
Lisa Lung booked her spot in the Junior Girls’ Singles final with a strong display in the last four where she eliminated the fourth seed Andrea Pavlovic of Croatia across five ends (11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4).
However, the standout result in the semi-finals came in the top half of the draw as Norway’s Rebekka Carlsen came back from three games down to defeat the no.1 seeded player Archana Girish Kamath of India (7-11, 7-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-6, 13-11) to progress through to the title deciding match.
The competition was set for an exciting finale as the home favourite Lisa Lung took on the unexpected finalist Rebekka Carlsen, but the Norwegian representative wasn’t able to replicate a similar performance to the one she produced in the previous round as Lisa Lung prevailed in straight games (11-3, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8) to lift the trophy.
Both of the Junior Girls’ Singles finalists also competed in the Junior Girls’ Doubles final as Lisa Lung and her partner from the United States of America Amy Wang went head-to-head with Rebekka Carlsen and her fellow compatriot Maja Haugen Gjelle.
Seeded first for the competition Lisa Lung and Amy Wang were expected to deliver a positive result against their fifth seeded opponents and they didn’t disappoint as the mixed nationality duo confidently strolled to a 3-1 triumph over the Norwegian partnership (11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10).
One of the big shock stories of Day One in Spa came in the Junior Boys’ Singles event when the top seed Florian Cnudde lost out in the opening round of the main draw, and there was another surprising outcome in the category on Day Two as Lilian Bardet claimed the gold medal.
Ranked 11th on the seeding list for the competition Lilian Bardet may not have been considered as one of the favourites to capture the trophy, yet he defied the odds coming out on top against the no.4 seed Bastien Rembert in the final (9-11, 11-8, 14-12, 11-5, 11-13, 11-9).
Opponents in the Junior Boys’ Singles final had actually been allies earlier in the day with Lilian Bardet and Bastien Rembert joining forces to great success in the Junior Boys’ Doubles event.
Lilian Bardet and Bastien Rembert saw off fellow French contestants Leo De Nodrest and Jules Rolland in a thrilling battle (6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8) as the third seeds toppled the second seeded pairing in the final.
Follow the action live on the Official ITTF Channel.
