by Simon Daish
Hungarian star Bence Majoros secured a powerful victory over Anders Lind at the semi-finals stage of the Under 21 Men’s Singles tournament (11-8, 11-2, 11-6), successfully booking his spot in the title match to set up a meeting with Cristian Pletea.
Seeded fourth for the event and one position above his opponent, Romania’s Cristian Pletea entered the tie as the slight favourite but in a tense four games encounter it was Bence Majoros who came away with an impressive and significant win (11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9).
Success in Otocec sees Bence Majoros receive his first Under 21 Men’s Singles gold medal at an ITTF Challenge Series event.
The Under 21 Women’s Singles final was contested by two young Japanese stars as Saki Shibata went head-to-head with Miyu Nagasaki for the trophy.
Miyu Nagasaki, the no.7 seed, performed exceptionally well to reach the final and was responsible for top seed Soo Wai Yam Minnie’s quarter-finals exit. However, the title win proved one step too far for Miyu Nagasaki with second seed Saki Shibata emerging victorious at the final hurdle (11-7, 11-3, 11-9).
Just five days into April but this is already Saki Shibata’s second Under 21 Women’s Singles trophy of the month, adding to her superb outing at the recent 2018 ITTF Challenge Spanish Open.
