by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

The top seed, at the final hurdle she overcame Men Shuohan of the Netherlands, the no.3 seed (9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7, 12-10), having earlier in the day in the later rounds accounted for Rachel Gerarts, also from the Netherlands and the no.12 seed (11-4, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6), prior to recording a semi-final success over Uzbekistan’s Rosalina Khadjieva (11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5) a player who excelled all expectation.

No current world ranking, at the quarter-final stage Rosalina Khadjieva had ousted Iran’s Parinaz Hajilou, the no.4 seed (7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4), having one round earlier ended the hopes of Portugal’s Celia Silva, the no.8 seed (12-14, 15-13, 6-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-8). Notably in the same round Rachel Gerarts had beaten Iran’s Mahshid Ashtari, the no.7 seed (7-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 12-10).

Impressive from Lisa Lung, in the opposite half of the draw, it had been equally impressive from Men Shuohan.

At the quarter-final stage she overcame Iran’s Fatemeh Jamalifar, the no.16 seed (11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4), before upsetting the pecking order by overcoming Thailand’s Jinnipa Sawettabut, the no.2 seed (11-4, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7).

Defeat for Jinnipa Sawettabut but she will finish the year in a sufficiently high place on the Standings to gain an invitation to the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals to be staged in Luxembourg in the first week of February.

Disappointment for Iran but there was success, Mahshid Ashtari and Fatemeh Jamalifar combined to win the win the Women’s Doubles title; in the final they beat the host nation’s Xenia Bettencourt and Victoria Santos (8-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-6).

The Junior Girls’ Singles event concluded, attention now turns to the Junior Girls’ Team and Cadet Girls’ Team in addition to the Cadet Girls’ Singles and Cadet Girls’ Doubles competitions