by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
At the final hurdle of the Cadet Girls’ Team competition, the duo recorded a three-nil win in opposition to Iran’s Parinaz Hajilou and Shima Safaei, the pair they were to beat in the final of the Cadet Girls’ Doubles event (11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8).
Impressive in the title deciding contest, it had been exactly the same in the penultimate round when a three-one success had been posted against Singapore’s Ser Lin Qian and Zhou Jingyi, the two players who contested the Hopes Girls’ Singles final with Zhou Jingyi emerging successful in three straight games (11-9, 12-10, 11-9).
The one success for Singapore in the semi-final encounter was that recorded in the second match of the fixture by Zhou Jingyi; she beat Luciana Mitrofan (3-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-7). However, there was no stopping Elena Zaharia; she overcame both Ser Lin Qian (11-4, 7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-3) and Zhou Jingyi (7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3) whilst teaming with Luciana Mitrofan to secure the doubles (11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 11-5).
In the counterpart semi-final, Parinaz Hajilou and Shima Safaei had recorded a three-nil win against the Netherlands duo formed by Emma Van der Zanden and Emine Ernst.
Two titles for Elena Zaharia, the Cadet Girls’ Singles title completed the collection; at the final hurdle she beat Luciana Mitrofan in four games (11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4), having at the semi-final stage accounted for Portugal’s Patricia Santos (7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9). In the counterpart penultimate round duel, Luciana Mitrofan has overcome Parinaz Hajilou (11-6, 11-6, 11-6).
Meanwhile, in the Junior Girls’ Team event, it was success for the trio comprising Rachel Gerarts of the Netherlands, Thailand’s Jinnipa Sawettabut and Belgium’s Rozalina Khadjieva. They recorded a three-nil success in the title deciding contest when facing the combination of Uzbekistan’s Rozalina Khadjieva who partnered Iran’s Mashid Ashtari and Fatemeh Jamalifar,
