05 May 2018

Frenchmen Fabien Lamirault, gold medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, emerged successful on Friday 4th May at the 2018 Slovakia Para Open in Bucharest, he won Men’s Singles Class 2.

Likewise, in the Men’s Singles events, Spain’s Alvaro Valera reserved the top step of the podium in Class 6 as did Montenegro’s Filip Radovic in Class 10. In a similar vein, Ukraine enjoyed success; Maxym Nikolenko won Class 7, Viktor Didukh emerged as the Class 8 champion.

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

However, as the Men’s Singles events progressed, there were plenty of surprises.

Hungary’s Endre Major emerged as the winner of Class 1; he accounted for Italy’s Andrea Borgato in the final (11-5, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3). One round earlier Andrea Borgato had beaten Switzerland’s Sylvio Keller (7-11, 11-8, 11-6, 3-11, 11-8), the quarter-final winner in opposition to Korea’s Nam Kiwon, the top seed (7-11, 11-8, 11-6, 3-11, 11-8).

Good form from Endre Major, it was the same from Korea’s Baek Youngbook in Class 3; he emerged successful beating Thailand’s Anarak Laoeong in the final (15-13, 11-9, 11-6) very much a player in form. Earlier he had overcome the Czech Republic’s Petr Svatos (11-4, 11-8, 4-11, 11-5)), the quarter-final winner in opposition to Frenchman Florian Merrien (11-9, 11-8, 11-6).

Meanwhile, in Class 4 Rafal Lis emerged the surprise winner. He accounted for Korea’s Kim Junggil in the final (3-11, 16-14, 11-9, 11-9), the quarter-final winner in opposition to Turkey’s Abdullah Ozturk, the top seed (3-11, 11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8).

Notable performances; it was the same in Class 9 from Ukraine’s Lev Kats as it was in Class 11 from Japan’s Koya Kato. At the final hurdle, Lev Kats beat Great Britain’s Ashley Facey-Thompson (7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-4), the semi-final winner in opposition to Japan’s Kyo Iwabuchi (9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6); Koya Kato defeated colleague and top seed, Takeshi Takemori, the top seed, in the final to secure the top prize (11-8, 11-8, 11-9).

2018 Slovakia Para Open: Latest Results

Paralympics Para Table Tennis Slovak Para Open