by Ian Marshall, Editor
Success for Paul Karabardak, Martin Perry and David Wetherill was as anticipated; they commenced play as the top seeds; it was mission accomplished.
“It was excellent to win gold. We played really well as a team, Martin was excellent in winning the singles to make every match a 2-0 win. Overall a good performance but plenty more to work on and hopefully improve for the rest of the year.” Paul Karabardak
“It’s great to grab another medal with Dave and PK. It’s always even better when it is gold. The three of us were a really tight unit out here and I think it showed the way we played. I feel that I’ve played some really good table tennis which I’m hoping to build on as it’s only the first competition of the season so it is exciting times.” Martin Perry
Likewise their colleagues in men’s team class 10, the trio formed by Kim Daybell, Ashley Facey Thompson and Joshua Stacey, justified their top billing. They beat the combination of Poland’s Igor Misztal and Italy’s Lorenzo Cordua to reserve the top step of the podium; a 2-1 result being the verdict.
“I was pleased with our performance in the team event. It is exciting to play with two young talents and I’m sure we will only get stronger as the season progresses. Ash and I continued our good form in doubles and I think with Josh we have a team strong enough to compete against the best in the world.” Kim Daybell
“It was a solid performance by all of us. I played a lot better than I did in the singles event and beat the World number four which I was very happy with. Kim and I played a lot of good doubles so I was happy with that as well. The singles was hard because I struggled mentally and couldn’t get going but I’m looking forward to Slovenia in May.” Ashley Facey Thompson
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Viktor Didukh and Ivan Mai responded to their status as favourites by winning the class 8 title; a situation that applied also Poland’s Marek Chybinski and Damien Fira in class 11. Notably, Viktor Didukh added to his men’s singles class 8 success achieved the previous day.
However, the success gained by Thailand’s Charlermpong Punpoo and Yuttana Namsaga was not necessarily to be anticipated; a situation that applied also to the Swedish combination of Daniel Gustafsson and Anders Andersson. Both pairs started play as the no.2 seeds.
Charlermpong Punpoo and Yuttana Namsaga secured the top prize in class 7, recording a 2-0 win in the final in opposition to the top seeded Brazilian combination of Israel Pereira Stroh and Paulo Salmin Filho. Similarly, a 2-0 victory margin was the order of proceedings for Daniel Gustafsson and Anders Andersson in the class 9 final when confronting Bert van der Zanden and Andrianus Van Amerongen of the Netherlands.
Surprise finalists, in the group stage, Bert van der Zanden and Andrianus Van Amerongen had secured a 2-1 win in opposition to Italy’s Mohamed Amine Kalem and Samuel de Chiara, the top seeds, eventually finishing in first place in the group ahead of the formation comprising Ukraine’s Lev Kats and Brazil’s Lucas Dos Santos Carvalho. The latter duo finished in the bronze medal position, they suffered a 2-0 penultimate round defeat at the hands of Daniel Gustafsson and Anders Andersson.
Proceedings over in Lignano; the next stop on the Para tournament calendar is Platja d’Aro. The Para Costa Brava Spanish Open commences on Wednesday 20th March.
Lignano Masters Open: Draw and Full Results
