by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
In a group organised event, they emerged successful without surrendering a single individual match; a three-nil win being posted against their nearest rivals in their concluding contest, the outfit comprising India’s Archana Girish Kamath, Montenegro’s Ivona Petric and Bulgaria’s Kalina Hristova.
Tijana Jokic game her team the perfect start by beating Archana Girish Kamath (8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9), before Sabina Surjan accounted for Ivona Pertic (11-3, 11-5, 11-6) and Dragana Vignjevic overcame Kalina Hristova to end matters (11-5, 11-6, 14-12).
Gold for Serbia in the Junior Girls’ Team event, it was the same in the Cadet Girls’ Team competition; the combination of Reka Bezeg and Radmila Tominjak emerging successful.
Success but it was hard fought success, especially in the final when facing the Romanian partnership formed by Iona Singeorzan and Irina Rus. Impressively, Irina Singeorzan beat both Reka Bezeg (12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-13, 14-12) and Radmila Tominjak (11-6, 11-9, 12-10). However that was to prove the sum total of Romanian success. Irina Rus was beaten by both Radmila Tominjak (12-10, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7) and in the vital fifth match of the fixture by Reka Bezeg (10-12, 11-5, 11-8, 11-15). Sandwiched in between, in the third match of the engagement, Reka Bezeg and Radmila Tominjak secured the doubles in four games (11-6, 11-7, 11-13, 11-6).
Earlier at the semi-final stage, Reka Bezeg and Radmila Tominjak had beaten the Polish partnership of Emilia Skuba and Wiktoria Wrozosek by three matches to nil. Meanwhile, Iona Singeorzan and Irina Rus had recorded a three-one win in opposition to the Czech Republic’s Anna Klemperova and Martina Novakova.
