by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Both found adversaries from the host nation more than a handful. Amy Wang needed the full five games to beat Xu Fan 11-5, 7-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9), as did Lee Ka Yee when confronting Qiu Honhjun (11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7).
Defeats but there was more than consolation for the Chinese duo, for each it was there only reverse and thus second position in the group and a main draw place was secured.
Players finishing in first and second spots in each of the eight groups advance to play for positions no.1 to no.16; third and fourth placed players progress to compete for position no.17 to no.32.
Second place in the group for Xu Fan and Qiu Honhjun; it was the same for the Crystal Wang of the United States, the Czech Republic’s Zdena Blaskova, Romania’s Tania Plaian and Korea’s Hanna Ryu. Conversely, their second place was contrary to expectations.
Crystal Wang of the United States, the no.2 seed was beaten by Romania’s Elena Zaharia (13-11, 12-10, 11-7).
“I’m very happy to win the match, and I’m very satisfied with my performance today. I had three wins in row to reach the next stage of the competition. I think I will have more confidence for my next match. I’m happy to be here. I hope I can continue my form today and keep going.” Elena Zaharia beating Crystal Wang
Meanwhile, Zdena Blaskova, the no.6 seed and Tania Plaian, the no.7 seed, experienced defeat against Chinese adversaries.
Zdena Blaskova was beaten by Huang Yingqi (8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7); Tania Plaian suffered at the hands of Fang Xiaoyu (11-6, 8-11, 7-11, 11-4, 13-11).
“We had rest yesterday, when the match began, I couldn’t give all my attention to the match; when I fell behind I didn’t think about the score; my self-confidence helped me to win”, it. Just like a normal game. Finally my confidence led me to win the match.” Fang Xiaoyu after beating Tania Plaian
Elena Zaharia, Huang Yingqi and Fang Xiaoyu all remained unbeaten to top the group. Similarly, it was second place for Ryu Hanna but in rather different circumstances.
In her opening match of the campaign she beat China’s Chen Yi in five games (11-8, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9), before experiencing defeat at the hands of Poland’s Anna Wegrzyn in a similarly close contest (11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4). Eyes focused on first place, it was not to be the outcome; she lost to Chen Yi in four games (11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7).
Thus on games ratio it was first place for Chen Yi (5:4) followed by Hanna Ryu (5:5) and Anna Wegrzyn (4:5).
The first round and quarter-finals of the Cadet Girls’ Singles event will be played on Friday 28th October.
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Schedule of Play
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Boys’ Teams and Girls’ Teams
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Team – First Stage Results
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Team – First Stage Results
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Team – Main Draw
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Team – Main Draw
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Singles – Groups
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Singles – Positions 1-16
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Singles – Positions 17-32
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Singles – Groups
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Singles – Positions 1-16
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Singles – Positions 17-32
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Boys’ Doubles
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Girls’ Doubles
2016 ITTF World Cadet Challenge: Cadet Mixed Doubles