by Ian Marshall, Editor
Success for Brazil but it was hard earned.
A 3-2 margin of victory was the end result in the junior boys’ team final for Kenzo Carmo, Shim Joon and Nicolas Degros against the combination of Slovakia’s Adam Klajber and Dalibor Diko who lined up alongside the Czech Republic’s Radim Moravek.
Backbone of victory
Man of the moment was Kenzo Carmo, in the opening match of the fixture, he beat Adam Klajber (11-5, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9), before in the concluding contest recovering from a two games to nil deficit to overcome Dalibor Diko by the very narrowest of margins (5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9). The one further success for the champions elect was recorded in the second match of the engagement when Nicolas Degros accounted for Dalibar Diko (11-9, 11-7, 11-9).
“I feel very good now after the final, I played great. We were level at two-all; in the last match I pulled through which brought us first place. Tomorrow I start in the singles competition, it is my first time here in Europe. I would love to bring home two medals, we will have to wait to see until the end of the tournament.” Kenzo Carmo
Earlier at the semi-final stage, Kenzo Carmo, Shim Joon and Nicolas Degros had recorded a 3-1 win in opposition to the Czech Republic’s Adam Stalzer, Ondrej Kveton and Filip Vybiral; by the same margin Adam Klajber, Dalibor Diko and Radim Moravek, had accounted for Croatia’s Leon Santek, Ivor Ban and Lovro Zovko.
Determined performances
Success as a result of determined efforts, it was the same for Giulia Takahashi and Laura Watanabe. They recorded a 3-1 penultimate round win in opposition to Korea Republic’s Choi Yeseo and Kim Taemin, before in a similar manner securing the title at the expense of Chinese Taipei’s Liu Zi-Fei and Yeh Yi-Tian.
At the semi-final stage, Liu Zi-Fei and Yeh Yi-Tian had recorded a 3-0 win in opposition to the partnership formed by Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Dara Cosic and Serbia’s Katarina Gvozdenovic.
Host nation success
Gold for Brazil, it was the same for the host nation and also for the Korea Republic.
Lea Paulin, Katarina Strazar and Lara Opeka combined to win the junior girls’ team title, the Slovenian trio recording a 3-2 win against the outfit formed by the Czech Republic’s Linda Zaderova and Jana Vasendova who allied with Hong Kong’s Poon Yat.
Katarina Strazar
Mainstay of the victory was Katarina Strazar, she beat both Jana Vasendova (11-6, 11-5, 11-6) and Linda Zaderova (9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9) to set the scene for Lea Paulin to be the heroine. She duly obliged; she accounted for Jana Vasdendova in straight games (11-3, 11-8, 12-10).
At the semi-final stage, the Slovenian trio had recorded a 3-2 win in opposition to the combination of Serbia’s Radmilsa Tominjak and Reka Bezeg who lined up alongside Bulgaria’s Kalina Hristova. Rather more comfortably, Linda Zaderova, Jana Vasendova and Poon Yat had secured a 3-0 victory margin when facing the outfit formed by Finland’s Ramona Maarit Betz, Italy’s Nicole Aria and Romania’s Patricia Ianau.
Gold for Korea Republic
Tense moments for Slovenia, in the cadet boys’ team event it was the same for Korea Republic’s Lee Jungmok and Kwon Hyok. A 3-2 win was the order of proceedings in opposition to Chinese Taipei’s Chao Po Yu and Hsu Hsien-Chia.
Notably at the semi-final stage both teams had beaten Romanian opposition by the 3-1 victory margin. Lee Jungmok and Kwon Hyok had overcome Andrei Istrate and Horia Ursut; Chao Po Yu and Hsu Hsien-Chia ended the title hopes of Dragos Bujor and Luca Oprea.
The team events complete, attention now turns to the individual competitions; play in Ootcec concludes on Sunday 6th October.
