by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
At the final hurdle Sandra Mikolaschek beat Great Britain’s Sue Gilroy (11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 5-11, 11-6), the player who one round earlier had caused arguably the biggest shock of the tournament to date; she ended the progress of Serbia’s Borislava Peric-Rankovic, the top seed and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games gold medallist.
In a tense full distance duel, Sue Gilroy recovered from a two games to nil deficit to secure victory by the minimal two point margin in the decider (8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 13-11).
Good form from Sue Gilroy to beat the top seed, it was the same from Maryna Lytovchenko; she accounted for Russia’s Raisa Lytovchenko, the top seed (11-7, 11-7, 11-8) to reserve the top prize.
Defeat in the final for the favourite in Class 11, as in Class 4-5, it was defeat in the penultimate round. Ukraine’s Natalya Kosmina was beaten by Krystyna Lysrak (11-6, 5-11, 11-8, 12-10) who maintained her good form in the final to overcome Polish compatriot Dorota Nowacka by the narrowest of margins in a five games contest (11-9, 11-13, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9).
Otherwise, in the Women’s Singles events, it was success for the top seeds.
Italy’s Giada Rossi won Class 1-2; Sweden’s Anna-Carin Ahquist captured the Class 3 title. Meanwhile, Kelly van Zon of the Netherlands added to her collection of silverware by winning Class 7, Norway’s Aida Dahlen was crowned Class 8 champion.
Not be left out, Neslihan Kavas won Class 9 gold, the top step of the podium in Class 10 was reserved by Brazil’s Bruna Alexandre.
Attention now turns to the Women’s Team events, play concludes on Saturday 12th May.
2018 Slovenia Para Open: Latest Results