3/18/2010        2010 Malta Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Junior Circuit

Represented by Elad Kuperberg and Michael Tauber, Israel won the Boys’ Team title at the Malta Junior Open in Cottonera on Thursday 18th March 2010, beating Tunisia three-two in a thrilling final.

Seeded no.2, the Israelis overcame the no.1 seeds to secure gold, despite the brave efforts of Adem Hmam.

He beat both Elad Kuperberg and Michael Tauber but that was to be the sum total of Tunisian success.

Crucial Doubles
The Israeli duo both recorded singles victories over Oussama Chaieb with the doubles, the third match of the fixture, proving crucial.

Elad Kuperberg and Michael Tauber succeeded in a close five games duel, a contest that with hindsight turned the duel in their favour.

Convincing Semi-Final Wins
A close final, a fact that underlined the superiority of both teams in the tournament, with three-nil semi-final wins being the order of the day.

Adem Hmam and Oussama Chaieb defeated Sweden’s Alexander Franzen and Carl-Johan Alexander at the penultimate stage, whilst Elad Kuperberg and Michael Tauber accounted for the Spanish squad of Alejandro Calvo, Xavier Peral and Moises Alvarez.

Cadet Gold for Singapore
Meanwhile, in the Cadet Boys’ Team event, Singapore proved irrepressible.

They surrendered only one individual match as they strode to victory, that being in the final against Spain, when in five games, the doubles went astray; Clarence Chew and Kerry Tan suffering at the hands of Jose Luis Maestro and Miguel Angel Vilchez.

However, wins for Clarence Chew over both Spaniards and success for Kerry Tan in opposition to Miguel Angel Vilchez prevented any hopes of Spanish gold.

Impressive Win
Both Singapore and Spain received a direct entry to the semi-finals after finishing in first place in their respective groups.

Clarence Chew and Kerry Tan recorded a three-nil win over Norway’s Eskild Jorgensen and Erik Doral; very impressive and decisive but life for Spain was not the simple in the penultimate round.

Full Distance Duel
A three-two success was the order of the day in opposition to Israel with Miguel Angel Vilchez beating both Mishel Levinski and Itamar Avramov, whilst Jose Luis Maestre overcame Levinski with the fixture score tied at two matches all.

The wins for Israel came from Itamar Avramov over Jose Luis Maestre in the second match of the contest and in the ensuing doubles.

Consolation for Cyprus and Austria
In both junior and cadet categories consolation events were staged.

The Boys’ Consolation title went to Cyprus `A’ (Nikolas Panagioyu, Andreas Efstathiou) with Malta `A’ (Andrew Gambria, Daniel Bajada) in second place whilst the equivalent event in the Cadet Boys’ Team competition was won by Austria.

The partnership of Andreas Levenko and Thomas Mullner finished ahead of Tunisia’s Thameur Mamia and Karem Ben Yahya.