by Ian Marshall, Editor

Xu Juan joined forces with colleagues Yang Zhonghui and Li Qian, the player she had beaten in the final of women’s singles class 3 final to secure the women’s team class 1-3 title. In a group organised event, they finished ahead of Korea Republic’s Lee Migyu and Seo Suyeon; third position ended in the hands of the combination formed Thailand’s Dararat Asayut and Japan’s Yukimi Chada.

The success recorded by the Chinese trio was as expected; they commenced play, the top seeds. The win secured by Koya Kato, the men’s singles class 11 champion was less predictable. Competing in the same category; in harness with compatriot Takashi Asano, the duo recorded a 2-1 win against the top seeded Korean duo of Kim Gitae and Jeong Kyuyoung to maintain their unbeaten recorded and the title.

Kim Gitae and Jeong Kyuyoung finished in runners up spot, ahead of Korea Republic’s Kim Changgi and Choi Jaehyeon.

Predicted and not predicted

Expected and somewhat unexpected outcomes; it was the same in the two remaining team events to be decided on the penultimate day of action, both administered on the group formula .

The partnership of Germany’s Thomas Rau and Great Britain’s Martin Perry justified their top seeded position to win men’s team class 6; Hong Kong’s Chiu Kan Shan and Wong Yue Ching upset the odds to emerge the women’s team class 6-7 champions.

Thomas Rau, class 6 silver medallist and Martin Perry finished ahead of the combination formed by Russia’s Mars Gabdullin who joined forces with Korea Republic’s Park Hongkyu and Kim Sungil; third place being the lot of Japan Kazuki Shichino and Junki Itai.

“The team event was good. I feel Thomas and I had a good relationship; we had some good banter and we really enjoyed playing together. We were both a bit disappointed that China pulled out as of course it would have been great for us to have a chance of beating them. Thomas had a very good singles tournament and was happy to sit back and believe in me for each match playing as number one. We played very good doubles and I was able to go and win the singles. I had some tricky matches and found a level I was happy with. I feel I’ve developed a lot this year so I’m happy with that.” Martin Perry

Rather differently, Chiu Kan Shan and Wong Yue Ching recorded 2-0 wins on every visit to the table to end the day in first place ahead of top seeds, the partnership formed by Korea Republic’s Kim Seongok and Great Britain’s Felicity Pickard. The formation of Egypt’s Hanna Hammad alongside Iraq’s Najlah Imad Lafta Al-Dayyeni anf Zainab Hasan Farttoosi finished in third place.

Not seeded, Russian duo reaches final

Success contrary to status, in the men’s team event as play progressed towards the finals, there were also upsets.

In class 1-2, Poland’s Rafal Czuper and Tomasz Jakimczuk, the top seeds, duly progressed unhindered to reserve their place in the final; conversely in the opposite half of the draw, not seeded, Russia’s Evgenii Riazantcev and Rasul Nazirov progressed  In the group stage they recorded a 2-1 win against the no.2 seeds, the combination of Slovakia’s Jan Riapos, China’s Gao Yan Ming and Macao’s Chu Cheng Lao, to secure group first position. A semi-final place, they maintained progress. They booked their place in the title decider courtesy of a further 2-1 win in opposition to Thailand’s Thirayu Chueawong and Natthawut Thinathet.

Meet again

Similarly, in class 7, Egypt’s Sayed Youssef and Abousteit Abdelmoneim upset the odds; in the group stage of play they posted a 2-1 win against the top seeded Polish combination of Maksym Chudzicki and Michal Deigsler, the pair they will meet in the final.

Maksym Chudzicki and Michal Deigsler finished in second place in the group and thus advanced to the semi-final round where they recorded a 2-0 win against the no.2 seeds, Hong Kong’s Lee Ming Yip and Chen Silu. A comprehensive success, in the opposite half of the draw life was more testing for Sayed Youssef and Abousteit Abdelmoneim; they needed the full three matches to end the hopes of the partnership formed by Italy’s Raimondo Alecci and Singapore’s Mu Yuguang.

Poland experiences problems

Problems for the second seeds, it was the same in class 4; Poland’s Krszysztof Zylka and Rafal Lis experienced a 2-0 defeat when facing Korea Republic’s Kim Junggil and Lee Kyeonghun in a group organised event. Entering the last day of action the top seeds, China’s Guo Xingyuan, Shi Yanping and Zhang Yan remain the only unbeaten team.

Defeat for Poland, in class 8, it was the exact same scenario. Also in a group arranged event, the trio of Poland’s Piotr Grudzien and Marcin Skrzynecki alongside Italy’s Samuel de Chiara, suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Thailand’s Komkrit Charitsat and Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri. China’s Peng Weinan, Ye Chao Qun and Zha Shuai, the top seeds, with one fixture remaining, enter the final day the one unbeaten team.

More troubles for second seeds

Likewise there were problems for a further second seeded pairing; Great Britain’s Kim Daybell finished in third place in their initial phase group behind colleague Josh Stacey and Poland’s Igor Misztal, China’s Zhao Yi Qing and Han Yajie secured runners up spot.

Josh Stacey and Igor Misztal duly recorded a semi-final success against Japan’s Koyo Iwabuchi and Nariaki Kakita; conversely, Zhao Yi Qing and Han Yajie witnessed defeat at the hands of top seeded colleagues, Lian Ha, Mao Shubo and Kng Weijie.

On course

Meanwhile, in the remaining team events where the destination of the medals is yet to be decided, the top seeds are very much on course.

In the women’s team competition, in class 4-5 China’s Pan Jiamin, Zhang Bian and Zhu Ying remain unbeaten in a group organised event, as in class 8 does the trio of Fan Lei, Zhao Xiaojing and Hou Chunxiao. In the final they face, the no.2 seeds, the combination formed by Chinese Taipei’s Lin Tzu-Yu who lines up alongside Japan’s Megumi Ishikawa and Japan’s Nozomi Takeuchi.

Likewise, in the men’s team events in class 3 and in class 5 the top seeds meet. In the former China’s Feng Panfeng, Zhai Xiang and Zhao Ping oppose the partnership formed by Russia’s Vladimir Toporkov and Jenson Van Emburgh of the United States; in the latter, also from China, Cao Ningning, Liu Fu and Zhan Dashun oppose Indonesia’s Tatok hardiyanto and Agus Sutanto.

Play in Huangzhou concludes on Monday 28th October.

2019 Para China Open: Latest draws and results