Tournaments

ITTF Challenge

2018 ITTF Challenge, Spanish Open

Tournament News
Challenge Series

Shock defeat for second seeds, Satsuki Odo and Saki Shibata upstage illustrious colleagues

30 Mar 2018

Titles to their name, top seeds Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato duly emerged successful in their opening round contest in the Women’s Doubles event on Friday 30th March, at the 2018 ITTF Challenge Spanish Open in Guadalajara.

They beat the Korean combination of Kim Youjin and Lee Zion in three straight games (11-8, 11-7, 11-4) to reserve their place in the quarter-finals; however, they were totally upstaged by colleagues Satsuki Odo and Saki Shibata.

Satsuki Odo (left) and (right) Saki Shibata recovered from the precipice of defeat to beat Matilda Ekholm and Georgina Pota (Photo: Alvaro Diaz)

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

Required to compete in the qualification tournament, 13 year old Satsuki Odo and 20 years of age Saki Shibata caused a major opening round upset.

They beat the partnership formed by Sweden’s Matilda Ekholm and Hungary’s Georgina Pota, the no.2 seeds, recovering from a two games to nil deficit and the edge of defeat in the third game to secure a quite remarkable victory (7-11, 7-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-4).

Remarkable, also it was remarkable in the fact that Satsuki Odo and Saki Shibata have no prior record of Women’s Doubles success on the international scene; very different when compared with the European pairing. Notably on the ITTF World Tour, Matilda Ekholm and Georgina Pota won in the Czech Republic in 2016, whilst last year they succeeded in India and on the ITTF Challenge Series in Slovenia.

Defeat for one seeded pairing and there were defeats for two more. The Belarus partnership of Katsiaryna Baravok and Daria Trigolos, the no.7 seeds, lost to Hong Kong qualifiers Mak Tze Wing and Zhu Chengzhu (11-9, 11-7, 11-4); Argentina’s Camila Arguelles and Agustina Iwasa, the no.8 seeds, suffered at the hands of the French combination formed by Oceane Guisnel and Stéphanie Loeuillette (11-5, 12-10, 11-7).

Surprises; for the other leading pairs it was success. In addition to Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato, Hong Kong’s Ng Wing Nam and Minnie Soo Wai Yam, the no.3 seeds, beat Spain’s Sara Ramirez and Zhang Xuan (11-9, 11-5, 11-8); Luxembourg’s Sarah de Nutte and Ni Xia Lian, the no.4 seeds, ended the aspirations of the combination formed by Norway’s Ilka Duval and Laura Pfeffer of France (11-6, 11-4, 11-7).

Disappointment for Spain but there was success; Galia Dvorak and Maria Xiao, the no.6 seeds, overcame the pairing comprising the Czech Republic’s Karin Adamkova and India’s Mallika Bhandarkar (6-11, 11-6, 14-12, 11-5). Meanwhile, in the one remaining opening round Women’s Doubles contest it was success for Poland; Katarzyna Grzybowska-Franc and Natalia Partyka, the no.5 seeds, ended the hopes of partnership comprising Italy’s Debora Vivarelli and Lily Zhang of the United States (8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6).

The quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Women’s Doubles event will be staged on Saturday 31st March.

Challenge Series 2018 Spanish Open Saki Shibata Satsuki Odo

Read more

2020 Oman Open: Five things learnt from final day

15 Mar 2020 Challenge Series

37 years young! Sharath Kamal Achanta strikes gold in Muscat

15 Mar 2020 Challenge Series

Hitomi Sato edges marathon women's singles final

15 Mar 2020 Challenge Series

Mixed fortunes for top seeds in doubles finals

15 Mar 2020 Challenge Series

No results found.