by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Notably at the 2016 tournament Ioana-Monica Tepelea not only won gold in Class 6-10 in the junior event, later she repeated the success in the senior competition when she secured the top prize in Class 8-10.

Furthermore, she has been in fine form this year; at the Lignano Junior Open, staged on the Italian Adriatic coast, she won Class 10 gold, whilst later being the Class 10 Women’s Singles Masters Open silver medallist. Additionally, to complete a successful visit, she secured the Class 8-10 Team title in partnership with Poland’s Karolina Pek.

Meanwhile, for the men, the name to attract the attention is that of Russia’s 18 year old Artem Iakovlev, a Class 8 player who, like Ioana-Monica Tepelea, was in inspired form on the Adriatic coast.

Notably at the Lignano Masters Junior Open, he won the Men’s Singles Class 7-8 title.

Good form in Lignano from Artem Iakovlev; it was the same from Japan’s Genki Saito, as it was from the Great Britain pairing of Daniel Bullen and Lawrence John. In the Italian resort, Genki Saito and Daniel Bullen were both bronze medallists in Class 4-5; Lawrence John was the runner up in Class 10.

At the 2017 Romania International Para Junior Open, Genki Saito and Daniel Bullen are the respective top seeds in Class 2-5: Lawrence John heads the list in Class 10.

Overall, a total of 26 men and eight women will compete in the 2017 Romania International Para Junior Open, a tournament for players born on or after Saturday 1st March 1994.

They represent the national associations of China, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Russia, Serbia and the Slovak Republic.

Romania International Para Junior Open: Draws and Latest Results