Twice Named in Second Place, Now Yukiya Uda Twice Named in First Place

2016 Portugal Junior and Cadet Open
ITTF Junior Circuit
Courtesy of ITTF

Listed in second place on the Under 15 Boys’ World Rankings behind Japanese compatriot, Tomokazu Harimoto, Yukiya Uda won the Junior Boys’ Singles title at the 2016 Portugal Junior and Cadet Open in Vilanova de Gaia on Thursday April 28th.

Furthermore, it was his second such success of the year. In mid-February he beat Darko Jorgic in the final at the Czech Republic Junior and Cadet Open; in so doing he inflicted the only ITTF Junior Circuit defeat of the year to date on the 17-year-old Slovenian.

France and Sweden
Later Yukiya Uda, only 14 years old, competed in both France and Sweden but was unable to reproduce the results gained in his earlier venture of the year.

However, always he secured a main draw place; the effect is that just as he is in second place on the ranking, he is in second place on the ITTF Junior Circuit Boys’ Standings.

Twice number two, more importantly he has the scent of winning, he has been twice number one.

Hard Fought Contests
In Vilanova de Gaia, the top seed, he accounted for the Portuguese duo of Gonçalo Gomez (11-6, 11-9, 11-2, 12-10) and Tiago Li, the no.11 seed (11-6, 11-6, 13-11, 11-2) to reserve his place in the semi-finals.

It was at that stage he was severely tested. He needed the full seven games to beat Paulo Silva, the no.8 seed, like Gonçalo Gomez and Tiago Li from Portugal (11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 2-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8), before securing the title by prevailing in a contest that was enacted in a very similar manner.

He beat colleague Koyo Kanamitsu, the no.2 seed, in a nail-biting full distance duel (11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4, 8-11, 5-11, 11-8) to secure the top prize.

Nail-Biting Duels
Defeat in a tense seven games contest, en route to the final it had been success for Koyo Kanamitsu in nail-biting duels.

After accounting for Romania’s Bogdan Singeorzan, the no.15 seed, in his opening second stage contest in five games (4-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8, 11-7), he recovered from a three games to nil deficit to win a titanic seven games duel against Portugal’s Vitor Amorin, the no.13 seed, to reserve his place in the final (10-12, 11-13, 9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-7, 16-14).

A place in the penultimate round booked, it was yet another testing hurdle that Koyo Kanamitsu had to overcome to reach the title deciding contest. He beat colleague Aoto Asazu, the no.5 seed, in what was yet another spell-binding affair (11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 11-7).

Casualties
Narrow margins of victory but eventually it was the top two seeds who contested the final.

However, there were two notable casualties; Japan’s Yu Kayama, the no.3 seed, was beaten by Paulo Silva at the quarterfinal stage (11-5, 14-12, 11-4, 11-4). Meanwhile, one round earlier, Germany’s Jonah Schlie, the no.4 seed, had experienced defeat at the hands of the host nation’s José Pedro Francisco, the no.10 seed (9-11, 11-3, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5).

Alas for José Pedro Francisco, the euphoria was short lived; at the quarterfinal stage he was beaten by Aoto Asazu (9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7).

Further Title
Fine efforts by Paulo Silva and José Pedro Francisco but the day belonged to Yukiya Uda; he collected not one but two titles on the second day of action in Vilanova de Gaia.

Earlier in the day he had partnered Takeru Kasima to Junior Boys’ Doubles success; at the final hurdle they beat Koyo Kanamitsu and Yu Kayama in three straight games to arrest the title (11-4, 14-12, 11-5).

Team Events
The individual events over, attention now turns to the Junior Boys’ Team and Cadet Boys’ Team events.