by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
However, for the Swedish combination of Linus Keraenen and Love Iwarsson, the no.3 seeds, there was defeat but by no means was the reverse an upset; a three-nil loss was experienced at the hands of the Chinese trio formed by Xiang Peng, Tao Yuchang and Xiong Menyang.
Xiang Peng bt Linus Keraenen (11-4, 11-6, 11-1), Tao Yuchang accounted for Love Iwarsson (11-7, 11-2, 11-4), before Xiong Mengyang joined forces with Tao Yucheng to secure the doubles (11-4, 11-3, 11-3).
Defeat for Sweden but second place in the group was secured; however, not without alarm bells ringing.
A three-two success was recorded against the partnership formed by Qatar’s Mohammed Salem Al-Ansari and Yemen’s Abdulhakim Gubran, the latter being the player to cause the problems. In the second match of the fixture he accounted for Love Iwarsson (11-1, 11-8, 11-6), before in the fourth exchange, defeating Linus Keraenen (11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9).
Problems for Sweden but eventual progress, for not for the fourth seeds, the Indian partnership of Hrishikesh Malhotra and Jash Amit Modi secured first place in the group without any great moments of anguish.
Meanwhile, in the counterpart Cadet Girls’ Team competition, an event that witnessed two groups in the initial phase of proceedings, the top two seeds both topped their groups without alarm. The combination of Malamatenia Papadimitroiu of Greece and Egypt’s Farida Badawy enjoyed a trouble free day as did the redoubtable Chinese selection of Kuai Man, Li Yuqi amd Ma Xinyue.
Play in the Cadet Boys’ Team and Cadet Girls’ Team events concludes on Thursday 8th February.
