by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

At the final hurdle they beat the combination of Frenchmen Lilian Bardet and Leo de Nodrest who teamed with Iran’s Amin Ahmadian, the winner earlier in the year in Tunisia.

Yu Heyi, the winner some two weeks earlier in France, gave his team the perfect start; he beat Lilian Bardet (11-8, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4) to set China on the road to gold. Xu Yingbin followed suit by overcoming Leo de Nodrest (11-5, 11-8, 11-5), before Quan Kaiyuan proved too strong for Amin Ahmadian (11-6, 12-10, 11-3).

A resounding win; it had been the same in the previous rounds. In the quarter-finals a comprehensive win had been posted in opposition to the Korea Republic ‘A’ outfit of Nam Seongbeen, Lee Seunghwan and Kim Minsu, before in the penultimate round it had been the same outcome when facing Japan. The combination of Yuto Abe, Shota Hoshi and Narihisa Iwanaga found the champions elect in unforgiving mood.

Impressive wins; for Lilian Bardet, Leo de Nodrest and Amin Ahmadian, life was somewhat more exacting. A three-one quarter-final success was recorded against the Thailand ‘A’ combination of Supakron Pankhaoyoy, Yanapong Panagitgun and Thyme Sanglertsilpachai, before in the semi-final round the full five games was needed to overcome India’s Jeet Chandra, Manav Vikash Thakkar and Manush Utpalbhai Shah.

The backbone of the victory was Lilian Bardet, he beat Jeet Chandra in the opening match of the fixture (10-12, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6) and Manav Vikash Thakkar in the fourth encounter (14-12, 11-4, 11-8). The wins set the scene for Amin Ahmadian; he duly obliged in the fifth and deciding contest, he overcame Jeet Chandra (12-10, 11-7, 11-7).

The Junior Boys’ Team event concluded, attention now turns towards the Junior Boys’ Singles and Junior Boys’ Doubles competitions.