by Ian Marshall, Editor

Most impressively at the final hurdle the duo recorded a two matches to nil win in opposition to the combination formed by Japan’s Hayuma Abe and Chile’s Manuel Echaveguren Farias.

“It was nice to cap off the tournament with a victory in the team event. For a number of years it has only been Ash and me and it’s really exciting to have a new member to strengthen our team even further. Ash was carrying a minor injury so couldn’t play and we showed that we can be just as strong no matter what combination we play. Josh is a good young player with an exciting future and I hope we can go on to be successful as a team.” Kim Daybell

Less than a year after making his international debut 18 year old Josh Stacey has already shown immense promise; notably at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games he secured bronze behind English colleagues Ross Wilson and Kim Daybell when on duty for Wales.

“The team event was a good experience for me. Ash and Kim will be the team for the next few years so just to be part of the team was good for my confidence. The doubles with Kim was positive; he’s very experienced so it helped me to settle into the matches knowing he was accustomed to being in these situations. Winning gold is a great feeling as it means I’ve had the perfect tournament on paper.” Josh Stacey

Titles in both the individual and team events; it was the same for Romania’s Bobi Simion who partnered Italy’s Mateo Parenzan to success in Team Class 6, as it was for Hungary’s Andras Csonka in Team Class 8; he struck gold in harness with Belgium’s Mark Ledoux

Likewise, in the Women’s events, Argentina’s Giselle Muñoz, Poland’s Karolina Pek and Russia’s Elena Prokofeva added to their individual titles.

Giselle Muñoz joined forces with Russia’s Fatma Fattakhova and Romania’s Gabriela Constantin to win Team Class 6-7, Karolina Pek combined with colleague Malgorzata Janowski to secure gold in Team Class 8-10. Similarly, Elena Prokofeva partnered Hungary Andrea Mate to the top prize in Team Class 11.

Notably at the final hurdle, Karolina Pek and Malgorzata Janowski accounted for the partnership formed by Russia’s Olga Komleva and Hungary’s Bettina Biscak by two matches to one.

“We proved ourselves in the doubles but then Malgorzata had to face Olga Komleva. I won my singles three-one but during the fourth game when I led 9-5, I tied to surprise my opponent with a quicker service. However, I made an error which turned the end of the match into unnecessary drama.” Karolina Pek

Impressive performances and as play concluded there were more; in the Men’s Team events, the Czech Republic’s Daniel Horhut and Zbynek Lambert won Class 7, also from the Czech Republic, partnering Aviv Gordon, Zbynek Lambert secured the Class 7 crown.

Meanwhile, in Class 11 Japan’s Ryo Miyauchi and Toshiya Takahashi emerged as the champions.

2018 Czech Para Open: Draws and Results