by Simon Daish
Miu Hirano and Hina Hayata emerged victorious over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu and Cheng I-Ching across three games to lift the trophy (11-7, 11-8, 11-9).
Both sides entered the tie off the back of 3-2 victories in the semi-finals so the title match was expected to be a close contest, but in reality it was a relatively comfortable experience for the Japanese duo.
Composed throughout the course of the opening two games Miu Hirano and Hina Hayata then established a commanding 10-3 lead in game three.
Remarkably Cheng I-Ching and Chen Szu-Yu saved six match points in a row to narrow the score to 10-9, but a lightning quick forehand across court from Miu Hirano eventually handed the two 17-year-old competitors the win.
“We are very happy to win 3-0 in the final to take the title. This is our first time pairing up as a doubles pair so we never thought that we could be the champions on our first outing. Today, I played the banana flick well and Miu’s forehand strokes were also well executed”, Hina Hayata.
Victory sees the Japanese duo receive US$ 8,000 in prize money and marks the first title for Miu Hirano and Hina Hayata as a partnership.
However, for Hayata it is her third gold medal in the category on this year’s ITTF World Tour having reached the top step of the medals podiums alongside Mima Ito at the ITTF World Tour events held in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic
Despite the defeat in Magdeburg Cheng I-Ching holds three Women’s Doubles trophies to her name and the pairing with Chen Szu-Yu most certainly has the potential to succeed moving forwards.
