by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
In the Class 6, the Spanish top seeded pairing of Alvaro Valera and Alberto Seoane finished in second place in their group behind the Chilean partnership comprising Cristian Dettoni and Matias Pino Lorca; Viktor Karp of the United States and Germany’s Tim Laue concluded matters in third position.
Problems but Spanish medal hopes are alive and well. Teams finishing in first and second positions in each group advance to the main draw; two groups in the initial stage, thus for Alvaro Valera and Alberto Seoane, a semi-final place and a minimum bronze medal is assured.
However, for Florian Merrien and Stéphane Gil Martins, the top seeds in Class 3, the situation is very different. First place in the group was secured but in the opening round a two matches to nil defeat was experienced at the hands of the combination formed by Spain’s Roberto Rodriguez and Jenson Van Emburgh of the United States.
Otherwise, it was a successful day for the leading teams.
In the Women’s Team events, in Class 3, Croatia’s Andela Muzinic and Helena Dretar secured first place in their group as did Serbia’s Borislava Peric-Rankovic and Nada Matic in Class 4-5.
Likewise in the standing categories where proceedings were organised on a group basis, in Class 6-7 Korea’s Kim Seongok and Lee Kunwoo remained unbeaten as in Class 8-9 did Turkey’s Neslihan Kavas and Kubrat Korkut. Status justified, it was the same in Class 10, the Brazilian combination of Bruna Alexandre, Danielle Rauen and Jennyfer Marques ended the day without defeat.
Meanwhile, in the Men’s Team events; in Class 1, Korea’s Kam Kiwon, Cho Jaekwan and Park Sungjoo enjoyed a successful day as in Class 2 did the host nation combination of Jan Riapos, Martin Ludrovsky and Lucas Klizan.
Also, in the wheelchair categories, in Class 4 it was a relatively trouble free day for the partnership formed by Korea’s Kim Jungil and Egypt’s Mohamed Sameh Eid Saleh, as it was in Class 5 for the Turkish combination of Abdullah Ozturk, Ali Ozturk and Hamza Caliskan.
Success for Turkey, in the standing categories, Ukraine was very much to the fore. In Class 7, Maksym Nikolenko and Mykhaylo Popov remained unbeaten as in Class 8 did Viktor Didukh and Ivan Mai.
Notable performances, it was very much the same scenario in Class 9-10, an event that witnessed a successful day for the pairing formed by Montenegro’s Filip Radovic and Italy’s Lorenco Cordua; similarly in Class 11, Japan’s Takeshi Takemori and Koya Kato enjoyed a day free from defeat.
Play in Bratislava concludes on Sunday 6th May.
2018 Slovakia Para Open: Latest Results