11 Nov 2017

Four titles for the host nation; such was the scenario as play concluded in the Men’s Singles events at the 2017 Spanish Para Open in Alicante on Friday 11th November.

Iker Sastre, Alvaro Valera, Juan Bautista Perez and Eduardo Cuesta all claimed gold.

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Competing in Class 1-2, Iker Sastre emerged victorious accounting for China’s Gao Yan Ming at the final hurdle (11-6, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7).

Impressive from Iker Sastre, it was the same from Alvaro Valera in Class 6 and Juan Bautista Perez in Class 9; both occupied the top seeded positions, both overcame adversaries from the People’s Republic of China at the final hurdle. Alvaro Valera beat Huang Jiaxin (11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-6), Juan Bautista Perez accounted for Zhao Yiqing (11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6).

Meanwhile, on duty in Class 11, in the title deciding contest, Eduardo Cuesta prevailed against Poland’s Marek Chybinski (11-6, 11-5, 11-7).

Outstanding performances but pride of place went to Norway’s Tommy Urhaug, gold medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. In action in Men’s Singles Class 5, at the semi-final stage he overcame China’s Cao Ningning (8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6), the gold medallist in the category at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. A place in the final booked, Tommy Urhaug duly maintained his form; he beat Turkey’s Hamza Caliskan to claim the top prize (11-7, 11-6, 11-9).

Defeat for one Rio de Janeiro gold medallist, there was defeat for another; in the Men’s Singles Class 4 final, Abdullah Ozturk was beaten by Turkish compatriot Nesim Turan (4-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-3).

Silver medals for China but there was gold; in the Men’s Singles event there was success for Feng Panfeng in Class 3 as there was for Yan Shuo in Class 7 and for Ye Chao Qun in Class 8. Likewise in the Women’s Singles events, Gu Xiaodan won Class 4, Xiong Guiyan Class 8-9 and Zhao Xiaojing Class 10.

Success for China in the Women’s Singles events, there was also success for Europe; Sweden’s Anna-Carin Ahlquist won Class 3, Turkey’s Kubra Korkut secured the Class 6-7 title.

Meanwhile, in the one remaining event, Indonesia’s David Jacobs won Men’s Singles Class 10.

The individual events over; attention now turns to the team competitions; play concludes on Sunday 12th November.

 

Spanish Para Open: Results and forthcoming matches

Paralympics Para Table Tennis 2017 Spanish Para Open