by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
In the opening match of the engagement he beat Noshad Alamiyan (11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6), before in the decisive fifth contest overcoming Nima Alamian (13-11, 7-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-7).
The one remaining win for Hungary was secured by Nandor Ecseki in the third match of the fixture when accounting for Afshin Noroozi (14-12, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7); for Iran, the wins came at the expense of Adam Szudi. He was beaten by both Nima Alamian (11-4, 12-10, 11-8) and by Noshad Alamiyan (11-4, 11-8, 11-9).
A closely fought contest, for Spain securing the Women’s Division Two title, life was less fraught; a three-nil win in opposition to Turkey was recorded. Galia Dvorak beat Ozge Yilmaz (8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3), Zhang Xuan followed suit by overcoming Hu Melek (8-11. 11-7, 11-8), before Ana Garcia defeated Gul Pembe Ozkaya.
Defeats for Iran and Turkey but for both nations it is progress to the Championship Division in 2020, the semi-final contests being the vital engagements.
Earlier in the day in the Men’s event, with no changes to the selection, Hungary had beaten the Slovakian trio comprising Samuel Novota, Alexander Valuch and Wang Yang; similarly, Iran had overcome the Ukraine trio formed by Kou Lei, Yevhen Pryshchepa and Yaroslav Zhmudenko. A three matches to one victory margin had been the result.
Likewise in the Women’s semi-finals, Spain with Maria Xiao preferred to Ana Garcia, a three-one success had been recorded against the French outfit formed by Pauline Chasselin, Laura Gasnier and Audrey Zarif; by the same margin with no changes to the line-up, Turkey had accounted for the Italian trio of Chiara Colantoni and Giorgia Piccolin and Deborah Vivarelli.
Meanwhile, in Division Three, in the Men’s event it was success for Lithuania, in the Women’s competition, the first place went to Indonesia.
In the final of the Men’s event Lithuania, with Medardas Stankevicius, Tomas Mikutis and Rimas Lesiv on duty, beat Vietnam’s Doan Tuan Anh, Nguyen Anh Tu and Dinh Quang Linh by three matches to nil. Similarly, in the title deciding contest Indonesia represented by Gustin Dwijayanti, Lilis Indriani and Atikah Rahaya recorded victory by the same margin in opposition to the Malaysian trio formed by Ho Ying, Chang Li Sian Alice and Karen Lyne.
