by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Competing in Class 6, Antonina Khodzynskaya was beaten by Croatia’s Sandra Paovic, the top seed (11-6, 11-5, 11-7); whilst in Class 7 Victoriya Safonova experienced defeat at the hands of Kelly Van Zon of the Netherlands (10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5).

Initial phase defeat but not in the second stage; in the penultimate round Antonina Khodzynskaya overcame Raisa Chebanika, (9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9), Victoriya Safonova defeated Ulija Shishkina (11-8, 11-8, 11-5).

In the counterpart semi-finals, as anticipated, Sandra Paovic accounted for Ukraine’s Maryna Lytovchenko (9-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-3); Kelly van Zon ended the hopes of Romania’s Gabriela Constantin (6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-3).

Somewhat differently, for Anzhleika Kosacheva, it was a day without defeat. In the group stage she beat Ukraine’s Natalya Kosmina, the top seed (12-14, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8), before in the semi-finals ending the hopes of Lea Ferney from France (11-9, 11-13, 11-8).

Notably, in the counterpart penultimate round duel, Natalya Kosmina, who finished in second place in the group, the defeat at the hands of Anzhleika Kosacheva, being her only reverse, it was success. She overcame Russia’s Elena Prokofeva (7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-13, 11-9) to reserve her place in the final.

Meanwhile, in the remaining Women’s Singles events where there were two stages; the top two seeded players advanced to the semi-finals.

Furthermore, in Class 1-2, there is a great deal of local interest. Italy’s Giada Rossi, the second seed, meets Russia’s Nadejda Pushpasheva in the final. Similarly in Class 4-5, Serbia’s Borislava Peric-Rankovic faces Germany’s Sandra Mikolaschek

Success as expected, in the events contested on an all-play-all basis, top seeds, Croatia’s Andela Muzinic (Class 3) and Mirjana Lucic (Class 10) in addition to Poland’s Karolina Pek (Class 8-9) remained unbeaten.

The individual events conclude on Thursday 2nd March.

Day One: 2017 Lignano Masters Para Open: Draws and Latest Results