by Ian Marshall, Editor
Andela Muzinic won class 2-3, Merve Demir secured the class 10 title; Peter Palos emerged successful once again in men’s singles class 11.
The wins for Andela Muzinic and Merve Demir were as anticipated, the success achieved by the host nation’s Katarzyna Marszal and Germany’s Juliane Wolf were not necessarily to be predicted but were not major upsets. Both started proceedings as the no.2 seeds, both finished ahead of the top seeds.
Competing in a group organised class 6 event, Poland’s Katarzyna Marszal finished ahead of Germany’s Stephanie Grebe; in class 7-8, Germany’s Julianne Wolf received a walk-over when scheduled to face Norway’s Aida Dahlen in the final.
Otherwise, in the women’s singles events, it was success for the top seeds. In addition to Andela Muzinic and Merve Demir, Korea Republic’s Kang Oejeong won class 4-5, Neslihan Kavas, like Merve Demir from Turkey, secured the class 9 title, Hong Kong’s Ng Mui Wui emerged the class 11 champion.
Wheelchair class upsets
Winners as anticipated, it was the same for Korea Republic’s Joo Youngdae in the men’s singles events, he prevailed in class 1, as did Chile’s Luis Bustamente Flores in class 2.
Predictable outcomes, in the remaining wheelchair classes it was very different. Ireland’s Colin Judge emerged the winner in class 3. The no.4 seed, in the final he beat Korea Republic’s Kim Jinsung (11-9, 11-8, 17-15), having in the penultimate round ousted Poland’s Maciej Nalepka, the top seed (12-10, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9).
Success against the top seed in the penultimate round, for Frenchmen Alexandre Delarque and Nicolas Savant-Aira it was success against the leading name in the final. Not seeded, in class 4, Alexandre Delarque accounted for the host nation’s Rafal Lis (11-9, 10-12, 13-15, 14-12, 11-5); Nicolas Savant-Aira overcame Norway’s Tommy Urhaug (11-3, 6-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9).
Stranding events
Similarly in the men’s standing classes, in addition to Peter Palos, there was gold as anticipated for Chile’s Cristian Dettoni in class 6 and for Great Britain’s Joshua Stacey in class 9.
The remaining categories all realised surprises. Jochen Wollmert, men’s singles gold medallist at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, as well as in Beijing and London, emerged the class 7 winner; the no.4 seed, at the final hurdle he overcame colleague, Bjoern Schnake (11-9, 11-9, 16-18, 11-6). Similarly Poland’s Piotr Grudzien secured the class 8 title; he beat Great Britain’s Billy Shilton in the final (11-7, 11-6, 11-7), an event in which none of the top four seeds reached the semi-finals.
Somewhat differently, Frenchman Gilles de la Bourdonnaye, the no.3 seed, secured class 10 gold; significantly accounting for Patryk Chojnowski, the top seed and London 2012 Paralympic Games gold medallist (11-9, 11-8, 14-2), prior to causing Poland even more pain by overcoming Ogor Misztal, the no.2 seed (9-11, 11-7, 13-15, 11-8, 12-10) in the final.
Team events now follow, play concludes on Saturday 22nd February.
- 2020 Polish Para Open: Draws and Full Results
