by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Success for Sabina Surjan and success on what was a busy day for the 17 year old, one with a fair share of surprises; the victory recorded by Sabina Surjan was somewhat against the odds.
Occupying the no.7 seed position in the competition, in the later stages, she accounted for Polish qualifier Anna Wegrzyn (11-4, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6), prior to overcoming Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yu-Peng, the no.10 seed, by the very narrowest of margins (7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 13-11) and Hong Kong’s Chau Wing Sze, the no.13 seed (11-7, 11-7, 11-3, 12-10) to claim the title.
“I didn’t expect to win to four-nil in the final because in the semi-final I was losing three-one. I changed and the victory is mine. I was more confident this time. I have never played either of my Asian opponents before so I didn’t know their style of play. I think that is the reason for my problems in the semi-final. The first time it is hard to play against their style but after, when you get used to it, it is not that hard any more.
In the final, I played down the line as much as possible and returned her serves positively. I think it was my best match during the whole competition. I didn’t expect to win gold because it was a strong competition. I won both in singles and doubles so I leave Hungary with two gold medals.” Sabina Surjan
In the opposite half of the draw, at the quarter-final stage Chau Wing-Tze had beaten Chinese Taipei qualifier Chien Tung-Chuan (11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 17-15), before recording a semi-final success in opposition to colleague Lee Ka Yee, the no.6 seed (11-7, 11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 8-11, 11-4).
Notably, not one of the top four names reached the semi-final round. Hong Kong’s Wong Chin Yau, the top seed, was beaten in round two by Serbian qualifier Dragana Vignjevic (14-12, 6-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8) who, in the next round, experienced defeat at the hands of Lee Yu-Peng (11-8, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8).
Meanwhile, by the narrowest of margins, Izabela Lupulesku, the no.2 seed, suffered in the opening round against Chien Tung-Chuan in a nail-biting duel decided by the minimal two point margin (11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 5-11, 11-8, 2-11, 14-12). In an almost equally close contest, the progress of Russia’s Anastasia Kolish, the no.3 seed, was halted at the quarter-final stage by Lee Ka Yee (11-9, 9-11, 11-1, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11), whilst earlier in the day, Chinese Taipei’s Chen Ting-Ting, the no.4 seed, experienced defeat when facing Anna Wegrzyn (5-11, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7).
Play in the Junior Girls’ Singles event concluded, attention now turns to the Junior Girls’ Team and Cadet Girls’ Team events.
