by Ian Marshall, Editor
The no.3 seeds, a direct entry to the semi-finals, the trio recorded a 3-1 win in opposition to the top seeded Russian outfit comprising Elizabet Abraamian, Olga Vishniakova and Ekaterina Zironova, before in the final succeeding by the same margin when facing a further Russian in the guise of Natalia Malanina. She joined forces with the Czech Republic’s Liubov Tentser and Tereza Pytlikova, the combination occupying the no.5 seeded position.
In the semi-final contest Tsai Yu-Chin beat both Ekaterina Zironova (7-11, 11-3, 11-4, 12-10) and Elizabet Abraamian (7-11, 5-11, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10), the one win for the Russians being notably recorded by Olga Vishniakova, the winner two days earlier of the junior girls’ team title. In the third match of the fixture, she accounted for Huang Yu-Jie (11-7, 4-11, 11-4, 14-12).
A place in the final booked, once again Tsai Yu-Chin made her presence felt. She accounted for both Liubov Tentser (11-8, 12-10, 11-8) and Natalia Malanina (11-4, 11-5, 11-5).
Defeat for Natalia Malanina but one round earlier, in a 3-2 win against the no.2 seeds, the German combination of Anastasia Bondareva, Franziska Schreiner and Laura Tiefenbrunner, she had been the star performer. She beat both Laura Tifenbrunner (10-12, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8, 15-13) and Franziska Schreiner (9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9).
Gold for Huang Yu-Jie and Tsai Yu-Chin, it was the same for their colleagues Chen Tsai-Ni and Liu Ru-Yun in the cadet girls’ team competition. The no.4 seeds, having not surrendered a single individual match in the group stage the previous day, they did exactly the same in the main draw.
At the quarter-final stage, they beat the no.6 seeds, the Czech Republic combination of Monika Parizkova and Helena Sommerova, before overcoming the no.2 seeds, Russia’s Svetlana Dmitrienko and Alina Zavarykina to reserve their place in the final.
Success against one Russian pair, in the final it was success against another; they accounted for Anastasiia Beresneva and Vlada Voronina to secure the title. It was the contest in which the Chinese Taipei duo came the nearest to losing an individual match; Chen Tsai-Ni was extended the full distance by Vlada Voronina (11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 6-11, 15-13).
In the opposite half of the draw, a direct entry to the semi-finals, Anastasiia Beresneva and Vlada Voronina had recorded a 3-0 win in opposition to the no.8 seeds, the host nation’s Eugenia Sastre and Yanira Sanchez.
The junior girls’ team and cadet girls’ team events concluded; attention now turns to the cadet girls’ singles and cadet girls’ doubles competitions. Play concludes in Platja d’Aro on Sunday 5th May.
