by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Likewise, in the corresponding group, the outfit formed by Korea’s Park Jincheol and Slovenia’s Ljubisa Gajic upset the order of merit. They secured first place in their group, notably recording a two-nil victory over the second seeded Italian pairing of Federico Crosara and Guiseppe Vella.
Unexpected defeats but there was a degree of consolation for the top two seeded outfits; both finished in second place in their respective groups; however that was not the situation for the second seeds in Men’s Singles Class 3.
The team formed by Spain’s Roberto Rodriguez and José Maria Ordejon who partnered Sweden’s Alexander Ohgren, ended the day without a win to their name and thus an early departure. They experienced two-one defeats at the hands of the host nation’s Matteo Orsi and Alessandro Giardini followed by the same outcome in opposition to Slovenia’s Bojan Lukezic and Primoz Kancler, the duo that was to eventually secure pole position.
Problems for the second seeds but not for the top seeds; Ukraine’s Vasyl Petruniv and Oleksandr Yezyk duly ended the day unbeaten, a situation that applied in all other events.
In the Men’s Team events, in competitions held on a group, all-play-all basis, it was a day without defeat for Hungary’s Endre Major and Great Britain’s Tom Matthews (Class 1), as it was for the pairing of Germany’s Thomas Brüchle and Frenchman Alexandre Delarque (Class 4).
Likewise, Serbia’s Mitar Palikuca, Budimir Malesic and Milan Zelen remained unbeaten (Class 5), as did Sweden’s Daniel Gustafsson and Fabian Rignell (Class 9) in addition to the pairing of Belgium’s Florian Van Acker and Hungary’s Peter Palos (Class 11).
Meanwhile, in the remaining Men’s Team events where there are two stages, a group phase followed by knock-out; Croatia’s Pavao Jozic and Vjekoslav Gregorovic (Class 6), Ukraine’s Maksym Nikolenko and Mykhaylo Popov (Class 7) as well as compatriots Viktor Didukh and Ivan Mai (Class 8) remained unbeaten. Similarly for Bas Hegerlink of the Netherlands and Montenegro’s Filip Radovic (Class 10) it was a day without blemish.
Unbeaten performances by top seeded outfits, in the Women’s Team competition, where each event is organised on a group basis, all top seeded teams enjoyed success as matters commenced.
Croatia’s Helena Dretar and Andela Muzinic (Class 1-3) remained unbeaten, as did Serbia’s Borislava Peric-Rankovic and Zorica Popadic (Class 4-5); likewise, it was a rewarding day for Russia’s Raisa Chebanika and Ulija Shishkina (Class 6-7).
Impressive performances, similarly the partnership formed by Poland’s Karolina Pek and Ioana-Monica Tepelea (Class 8-10) alongside Russia’s Elena Prokofeeva and Maria Galkina (Class 11) enjoyed fruitful excursions.
Play concludes on Saturday 4th March.
2017 Lignano Masters Para Open: Draws and Latest Results