by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Nadezhda Bogdanova commenced proceedings as the no.10 seed; Medaradas Stankievicius was the no.11 seed, Vladislav Yrsu, the no.17 seed.
Impressively, Nadezhda Bogdanova accounted for Sweden’s Christina Källberg, the no.8 seed (11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8), Germany’s Franziska Shreiner, the no.13 seed (11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 11-4, 12-14, 10-12, 11-4) and the host nation’s Andrea Pavlovic, the no.6 seed (16-14, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8).
Outstanding from Nadezhda Bogdanova, her efforts were more than matched by Medaradas Stankievicius and Vladislav Ursu.
Both went from strength to strength. Medaradas Stankievicius overcame Portugal’s José Pedro Francisco, the no.15 seed (11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-2), prior to ousting Azerbaijan’s Yu Khinhang, the player who on the opening day of action had accounted for Ioannis Sgouroploulos of Greece, the European Youth Champion (12-10, 11-9, 14-16, 5-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9).
Victory by the narrowest of margins, it was only marginally more comfortable for Medaradas Stankievicius in the final as he caused an upset of note. He beat Italy’s Matteo Mutti, the no.6 seed (14-12, 13-11, 12-10, 1-11, 8-11, 11-9).
Hard fought contests; it was no different for Vladimir Ursu. He overcame Ukraine’s Volodymyr Lushnikov, the no.21 seed (10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 13-11, 6-11, 11-1) as was anticipated but then upset the odds by accounting for Belgium’s Laurens Devos, the no.9 seed (11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8) and Frenchman Bastien Rembert, the no.5 seed (11-5, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9).
Notably one round earlier Bastien Rembert had beaten Sweden’s Truls Moregard, the no.4 seed (12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 16-18, 11-6), the opening round winner in opposition to Romania’s Cristian Pletea, the top seed (7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12, 2-11, 11-7, 11-7).
A series of upsets, for Ning Jing, it was as predicted. She beat Anna Wegrzyn, the no.11 seed (11-5, 13-11, 12-10, 11-6), Romania’s Andreea Dragoman, the no.3 seed (11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-5) and Ukraine’s Veronika Perebeinos, the no.18 seed, to reserve her Buenos Aires place (11-1, 11-2, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4).
Meanwhile, in the contests to decide the first reserve; in the Men’s Singles event, Matteo Mutti beat Bastien Rembert (11-8, 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6), in the Women’s competition, Andrea Pavlovic overcame Veronika Perebeinos (11-4, 11-3, 11-7, 11-6).
Continental Tournaments – Qualifiers (as on Sunday 5th November)
Men
Africa: Youssef Abdel Aziz (Egypt), Nathael Hamdoun (Tunisia)
Asia: Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan), Lin Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei), Wang Chuqin (China), Cho Daeseong (Korea)
Europe: Ioannis Sgouropoulos (Greece), Vladimir Sidorenko (Russia), Medardas Stankievicius (Lithuania), Vladislav Urdu (Moldova)
Latin America: Nicolas Burgos (Chile), Guillerme Teodoro (Brazil)
Women
Africa: Esther Oribamise (Nigeria), Marwa Alhodaby (Egypt)
Asia: Miu Hirano (Japan), Su Pei-Ling (China), Jinnipa Sawettabut (Thailand), Su Pei-Ling (Chinese Taipei)
Europe: Lucie Gauthier (France), Mariia Tailakova (Russia), Ning Jing (Azerbaijan), Nadezhda Bogdanova (Belarus)
Latin America: Adriana Diaz (Puerto Rico), Bruna Takahashi (Brazil)
