by Ian Marshall, Editor
Shim Joon is only 15 years old, in the junior boys’ singles he was beaten by Chinese Taipei’s Chao Po-Yu (11-7, 11-5, 15-13, 11-8); conversely in the cadet boys’ singles competition, where he is the top seed, he accounted for the Czech Republic’s Jaroslav Baca (11-6, 11-8, 11-5) in his opening contest.
Noteworthy efforts from Shim Joon, it was the same in the junior boys’ singles event from Nicolas Degros and Kenzo Carmo; in their opening engagements Nicolas Degros, the no.3 seed, beat Croatia’s Lovro Zovko, the no.5 seed (11-7, 11-6, 11-5, 11-2), Kenzo Carmo accounted for the Czech Republic’s Radim Moravek (11-8, 12-10, 11-13, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7). The reason for the earlier than status anticipated first round meeting between Nicolas Degros and Lovro Zovko was because Lovro Zovko had finished in second position in his initial phase group.
An earlier than expected departure for Lovro Zovko, it was the same for colleague, Leon Santek, the no.4 seed; he was beaten by Romania’s Radu Miron (12-14, 11-9, 12-10, 11-7, 11-5). Problems for highly rated players, for the very highest there were no problems whatsoever; Croatia’s Ivor Ban and Slovenia’s Adam Klajber, the respective top two seeds, both received direct entries to round two.
Host nation success
Meanwhile, in the junior girls’ singles event, the only leading name called to order in round one was the host nation’s Katarina Strazar, the no.7 seed, second place in the group stage of play had been her lot. She beat Croatia’s Marta Jurcevic (11-6, 11-5, 11-6, 12-10) to secure progress to round two.
Similarly in the cadet girls’ singles event, those who had reserved main draw places were not in action; rather differently, the first round of the cadet boys’ singles event was completed. Notably, in addition to Shim Joon, Belgium’s Nolan Lerat, the no.3 seed, enjoyed success but there were opening round defeats for Tim Giltia, the no.2 seed also from Belgium as well as for the Czech Republic’s Vit Kadlec, the no.5 seed.
Nolan Lerat beat Slovakia’s Alexander Katona (11-4, 11-8, 11-4); conversely Tim Giltia and Vit Kadlec both suffered at Romanian hands; Tim Giltia was beaten by Matei Dumitrescu (11-2, 11-4, 11-9), Vit Kadlec experienced defeat at the hands of Luka Opres (11-6, 11-9, 11-8).
Semi-finalists known
The last 16 realised in the singles events, in the doubles competitions, the semi-finalists are known.
In the junior boys’ doubles, Ivor Ban and Ncolas Degros meet Kenzo Carmo and Shim Joon; Leon Santek and Lovro Zovko oppose Slovakia’s Dalibor Diko and Adam Klajber.
Visitors to the fore, in the counterpart junior girls’ doubles event, the host nation is very much in evidence; Lea Paulin and Katarina Strazar face the combination of Bulgaria’s Kalina Hristova and Romania’s Patricia Ianau, in the adjacent half of the draw Serbia’s Reka Bezeg and Radmila Tominjak play Korea Republic’s Kim Taemin and Lee Seungeun.
Undoubtedly an impressive partnership, the names of Kim Taemin and Lee Seungeun also appear in the cadet girls’ doubles semi-final line-up; in the penultimate round they oppose Brazil’s Giulia Takahashi and Laura Watanabe. Awaiting in the final is either the Polish combination of Anna Bryska and Zuzanna Pawelec or the Chinese Taipei pairing of Liu Zi-Fei and Yeh Yi-Tian.
Play in Otocec concludes on Sunday 6th October.
