by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
A hard fought contest witnessed the first three matches being decided by the minimal two point margin in the decisive fifth game.
Poland made the better start, Samuel Kulczycki accounted for Cédric Meissner (11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9), before the Japanese influence bore fruit. Takeru Kashiwa overcame Jan Zandecki (7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9), prior to Aota Asazu giving the champions elect the lead. He beat Przemyslaw Walaszek (11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9).
Proceedings concluded with Takeru Kashiwa returning to the table to cement victory; he overcame Samuel Samuel Kulczycki in four games (13-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-4).
Success by three matches to one; for the finalists that had been the outcome in both the quarter-final and semi-final rounds.
Aoto Asazu, Takeru Kashiwa and Cédric Meissner overcame the outfit formed by Iran’s Hamid Shams and Arya Amiri who joined forces with Bulgaria’s Martin Petrov, before in the penultimate round, they ended the hopes of the no.4 seeds, Brazil’s Guilherme Tedoro, Eduardo Tomoike and Rafael Torino.
Meanwhile, in the opposite half of the draw, the Polish trio ended the hopes of the host nation at the quarter-final stage by overcoming the combination of Daniel Orac, Stefan Peko and Jakub Zelinka, the no.3 seeds; prior to defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chang Chi-Pin, Chen Jun-Ting and Peng Chih, the no.15 seeds and surprise semi-finalists.
One round earlier, the Chinese Taipei outfit had caused a major upset by beating Argentina’s Martin Bentancor, Santiago Lorenzo and Alexis Orencel, the no.3 seeds by three matches to nil.
Team events concluded, eyes now focus on the individual competitions; proceedings conclude on Sunday 20th May
