by Ian Marshall, Editor
Impressively, the top step of the podium was gained without surrendering a single individual match; however the 3-0 margin of victory in the final was arguably a little harsh on their spirited opponents.
Facing the combination of Japan’s Ryoichi Yoshiyama and Takeru Kashiwa who joined forces with New Zealand’s Nathan Xu; Cao Yantao gave his team the perfect start by beating Ryoichi Yoshiyama in straight games (11-8, 11-8, 12-10). A comprehensive win, the next contests both needed the full five games to determine the outcome. Eventually Zeng Beixun overcame Takeru Kashiwa (11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6), before Quan Kaiyuan brought matters to a close by overcoming Nathan Xu (11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8).
A hard fought contest; somewhat predictable, at both the quarter and semi-final stages, maximum distance 3-0 wins by each outfit had been posted.
Quan Kaiyuan, Cao Yantao and Zeng Beixun had started their day by overcoming the trio formed by Belgium’s David Comeliau, Maciej Kolodziejczyk and Serbia’s Dimitrije Levajac, prior to ending the progress of Chinese Taipei’s Feng Yi-Hsin, Huang Yan-Cheng and Li Hsin-Yu.
Meanwhile, in a similarly impressive manner, Takeru Kashiwa, Nathan Xu and Ryoichi Yoshiyama had shown no charity. They ended the hopes of Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu-Jen, Peng Chih and Tai Ming-Wei; prior to reserving their place in the final courtesy of success in opposition to the international outfit formed by India’s Manush Utpalbhai Shah who allied with Iran’s Amin Ahmadian and Radim Khayyam.
Matters concluded in the junior boys’ team event; attention now turns to the individual competitions in the cadet age group.
