by Ian Marshall, Editor

The no.18 seeds, a position that belied their status; greater exposure to international play would no doubt have witnessed the trio at the head of the order, they secured the title at the final expense of Chinese Taipei, the no.2 seeds; a three matches to two success being the order of the day, Zuo Yue being the player to suffer.

She was beaten by both Chen Ting-Ting (11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 15-13) and by Fang Sih-Han (11-8, 11-13, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4). The mainstay of China’s success was Li Yake; she accounted for Fang Sih-Han in the second match of the fixture (9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-5), before in the fifth and deciding contest securing the title by overcoming Chen Ting-Ting (8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 13-11). Earlier, in the vital third match of the engagement; Li Ruonan had prevailed in opposition to Cai Fong-En (8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6).

Success for Li Yake but earlier in the day, at the quarter-final stage there had been defeat. She suffered against Elizabet Abraamian (11-7, 12-10, 12-10) in a three-one success against Russia, Kristina Kasantseva and Ekaterina Zironova completing the third seeded European outfit.

A place in the semi-finals booked, a three-one win was recorded in opposition to Ukraine’s Anastasiya Dymytrenko, Yaroslava Prykhodko and Veronika Hud, the no.12 seeds.

Meanwhile, in the opposite half of the draw, there were no such travails for Cai Fong-En, Chen Ting-Ting and Fang Sih-Han. A three-nil quarter-final win was recorded against the no.10 seeds, the French trio formed by Camille Lutz, Leili Mostafavi and Prithika Pavade, prior to the same margin of victory being the outcome in the penultimate round, when facing Poland’s Aleksandra Michalek, Anna Wegrzyn and Katarzyna Wegrzyn, the no.4 seeds.

The Junior Girls’ Team event concluded; attention now turns to the Cadet Boys’ Singles, Cadet Girls’ Singles, Cadet Boys’ Doubles and Cadet Girls’ Doubles events; play in Varazdin concludes on Sunday 16th September.