by Ian Marshall, Editor
The title secured but not without some tense moments, in the final the Russian trio formed by Maksim Grebnev, Lev Katsman and Vladimir Sidorenko proved more than worthy opponents; a three-one victory margin was the outcome but of the four matches only one was not decided in five games.
Cao Yantao gave his team the perfect start by beating Vladimir Sidorenko (10-12, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7), before Liu Yebo overcame Maksim Grebnev by the very narrowest of margins (11-13, 6-11, 13-11, 11-8, 12-10) to double the lead. Two hard fought contests, the third was no different only this time in favour of Russia, Lev Katsman recovered from a two games to nil deficit to secure victory by the minimal two point margin when facing Xiong Memgyang (3-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 12-10).
A possible Russian recovery, such hopes were extinguished by Liu Yebo; he beat Vladimir Sidorenko in four games (11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 11-3) to seal the victory.
Success for China in a final between two very evenly matched outfits, an outcome that gave Cao Yantao a sense of satisfaction for Cao Yantao, in the Junior Boys’ Doubles final, partnering colleague Liang Guodong, the pair had lost to Maksim Grebnev and Lev Katsman.
“The Russian team was amazing in the final; the key to our victory was that Liu Yebo saved four match points against Grebnev. It was revenge for yesterday, losing in the doubles final.” Cao Yantao
Notably, in the latter stages en route to the final both teams had stamped their authority on proceedings.
At the quarter-final stage Cao Yantao, Liu Yebo and Xiong Mengyang had recorded a three-nil win in opposition to the combination of Ireland’s Owen Cathcart who joined forces with Japan’s Aoto Asazu and Takeru Kashiwa, before in opposition to a similar international outfit, accounting for Serbia’s Dimitrije Levajac who partnered the United States combination of Nicholas Tio and Michael Minh Tran.
Meanwhile, in a similarly imposing manner, Maksim Grebnev, Lev Katsman and Vladimir Sidorenko had recorded a three-nil win in opposition to Belgium’s Adrien Rassenfosse, Olav Kosolosky and Nicolas Degros, before securing a three-one success when facing Germany’s Kay Stumper, Kirill Fadeev and Daniel Rinderer.
Play concluded on the Junior Boys’ Team event, attention now turns to the Cadet Boys’ Singles, Cadet Girls’ Singles, Cadet Boys’ Doubles and Cadet Girls’ Doubles events; play in Szombathely concludes on Sunday 11th November.
