by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

In a group organised event, the young Americans finished ahead of Sweden’s Michael Azulay and Peter Molander with the combination of Japan’s Junki Itai and Great Britain’s Conor McAdam in third place. Fourth place was the lot of Ireland’s Conor O’Callaghan and Des Ryan who teamed with Russia’s Timur Khusnullin.

One title decided in the remaining team events, the final outcome has yet to be determined. Furthermore, in the Men’s Team events, there have been surprises with top seeded combinations experiencing defeat.

Notably, in Class 4-5, the partnership formed by Great Britain’s Daniel Bullen and Tommy Urhaug experienced a two-one defeat against Chinese Taipei’s Liang Chen-Kun and Chen Tai-An. Second place in the group and thus progress to the main draw but any medal hopes were extinguished in the quarter-finals. They suffered a two-nil defeat at the hands of Gow-Ching and Ko Kun-Nan also from Chinese Taipei.

Similarly, for the top seeds in Class 7, the outlook is bleak with more disappointment for Norway. In a group administered event, Markus Koteng in partnership with Austria’s Andreas Thomasberger experienced a two-nil defeat when facing Sweden’s Sam Gustafsson and Noah Olsson, before suffering a two-nil reverse in opposition to Great Britain’s Alexander Bland and Lee Wilkinson.

The destination of the gold medal will be determined in the final group contest when Sam Gustafsson and Noah Olsson meet Alexander Bland and Lee Wilkinson; both teams ended the penultimate day unbeaten.

Surprises but in the remaining Men’s Team events, the top seeds ended the day unbeaten. In Class 1-2, it was a trouble free first stage for the pairing of Ireland’s Colin Judge and Spain’s Miguel Angel Toledo, as it was in Class 3 for the host nation’s Miguel Rodrigues and Eder Rodriguez in a group organised competition.

Also in a group arranged format, in Class 8, the Swedish trio of Emil Andersson, Linus Karlsson and Axel Wallin ended the unbeaten, as did their colleagues Daniel Gustafsson, Fabian Rignell and Tobias Andersson in Class 9. Similarly in Class 10, the Indonesian outfit comprising David Jacobs, Komet Akbar and Kusnanto reserved a semi-final place without surrendering an individual match.

Progress as expected, it was the same in the Women’s Team events with the top seeds remaining unbeaten.

Brazil’s Joyce Oliveira and Catia Oliveira topped their Class 2-5 group; in Class 6-10 the formation of Indonesia’s Shella Dwi Radayana and Norway’s Merethe Tveiten remained unbeaten in a group organised meeting. Neither outfit surrendered a single individual match.

Play concludes on Sunday 11th June.

Spanish Para Open: Draw and Latest Results