by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Competing in Women’s Class 4-5; on the morning of Thursday 18th May, a three matches to nil win was recorded in opposition to the host nation partnership formed by Alena Kanova and Katarina Dobrovodska.
Advised by Zlatko Kessler; Borislava Peric-Rankovic and Nada Matic combined to win the doubles (11-5, 11-2, 11-8), before Kristina Arancic overcame Katarina Dobrovodska (11-3, 11-7, 11-1) to seal the victory.
“We didn’t have any matches scheduled yesterday, we took the time to practise and warm up against our Serbian Men’s Team. So it helped a lot in our preparation for our matches today. It is a pity the Chinese team is not here, I would say our main opponent would be the team from Great Britain”, Zlatko Kessler
Success for Serbia and in an event organised on a group basis where there are five teams competing on an all-play-all basis it was also success for Great Britain.
Two-nil winners against Alena Kanova and Katarina Dobrovodska, the previous day, Sue Gilroy and Megan Shackleton maintained their form on the second day of action; they recorded a two matches to nil win in opposition to Chinese Taipei’s Lu Pi-Chun and Lee Ya-Chu.
The doubles secured (14-12, 11-9, 11-6), Sue Gilroy overcame Lu Pi-Chun (11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4) to seal the victory.
“Megan and I played much better today in the doubles and definitely more flow in our partnership today. Last week was our first time playing together after a year gap, but I think we are starting to understand each other as the tournament goes on. The Serbian team is very strong in their doubles, but I’ve beaten Peric sometime ago. We will definitely give our best when we play the Serbian team.” Sue Gilroy.
The contest between Great Britain and Serbia is scheduled for 2.15pm (local time) on Friday 19th May.
2017 World Para Team Championships: Draw and Latest Results