by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
The no.2 seed, Will Bayley accounted for Ukraine’s Maksym Nikolenko, the top seed (8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4) to clinch the Class 7 title; likewise Laurens Devos rose the occasion, the top seed in Class 8 he accounted for Russia’s Iurii Nozdrunov, the second seed (9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 13-11) to claim the top prize.
“I’m so happy to win the gold. It was amazing to have coach, Andrew Rushton, in my corner and the gold medal was a perfect end to a very good singles performance. At two-nil down in the final I changed my tactics and started to play more positively. After he dominated the first two games I managed to dominate the last three.” Will Bayley
Hard earned wins, for Patryk Chojnowski, life was less dramatic; the top seed in Class 10, he overcame Austria’s Krisztian Gardos, the no.2 seed (11-8, 11-8, 11-6) to reserve the top step of the podium.
Wins as expected but in the remaining Men’s Singles events, there were surprise winners with Great Britain collecting a second title.
Ross Wilson, the no.4 seed, won Class 8; at the final hurdle he beat the Slovak Republic’s Richard Csejtey, the no.5 seed and a man in form (11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-3); at the semi-final stage Richard Csejtey had accounted for Ukraine’s Viktor Didukh, the top seed (11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7).
“I’ve had a really good competition. I’ve been training really hard and it’s gone well so I’m very happy. At two-one down in the final I changed a few things and got myself back into it. It’s nice to be back on top and winning again and I hopefully I can continue that form. We’ve done well here as a team so that is a positive going forward.” Ross Wilson
Two titles for Great Britain, it was three for Korea. Park Sungjoo won Class 1 beating Switzerland’s Sylvio Keller in the final (11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5); Great Britain’s top seeded Rob Davies having departed proceedings one day earlier in the group stage.
A surprise win for Korea, it was the same in Class 4; Kim Younggun, the no.2 seed, clinched the title at the final expense of Turkey’s Abdullah Ozturk, the top seed (11-7, 11-2, 10-12, 11-5). Meanwhile, not to be upstaged, in Class 11, Kim Gitae, the no.2 seed, accounted for Hungary’s Peter Palos, the top seed (8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6) to claim gold.
Defeat for Turkey against expectations but there was the reverse scenario; Ali Ozturk, the no.3 seed, won the Class 3 title. He accounted for Korea’s Kim Kyungyoung in the final (10-12, 11-5, 11-4, 12-10), having in the penultimate round ousted Germany’s Valentin Baus, the top seed (11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10).
Good form from Kim Kyungyoung; it was continued good form from Ireland’s Colin Judge and Ian Seidenfeld of the United States; both winners the previous week, both emerged winners in Bayreuth.
Neither listed amongst the top seeded names, Colin Judge won Class 2 beating Frenchman Vincent Boury, the no.6 seed in the final (11-8, 11-7, 11-5). Notably Vincent Boury had one round earlier accounted for colleague Stéphane Molliens, the no.4 seed (11-6, 7-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9), the quarter-final winner over Poland’s Rafal Czuper, the top seed (11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9).
Impressive once again from Colin Judge, it was the same from Ian Seidenfeld. He secured the Class 6 title. He defeated Frenchman Bastien Grundeler, the no.5 seed in the final (11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 11-3), having at the semi-final stage ousted Denmark’s Peter Rosenmeier, the top seed (10-12, 3-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-8).
Disappointment for France but against the odds there was success. Florian Merrien, the no.3 seed, won the Class 3 title beating Ukraine’s Vasyl Petruniv in the final (11-6, 11-6, 12-10) having one round earlier caused a major upset by overcoming the host nation’s Thomas Schmidberger, the top seed (9-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9).
The individual events concluded; attention now turns to the team competitions, play concludes on Saturday 17th June.
2017 Bayreuth Para Open: Draw and Latest Results