(by Steve Hopkins)
Lin Yun-Ju entered the tournament in Zagreb as the fourth seed. His path became easier when Truls Moregard fell to Patrick Franziska – Lin Yun-Ju was able to beat the No. 12 ranked Fraziska (instead of the No. 5 ranked Moregard). The biggest story of the tournamnent was Chinese World Junior’s Champ Xiang Peng (currently World Youth No. 8) who was able to take out Tomokazu Harimoto (World No. 7) in the Round of 16, and who topped Chuang Chih Yuan (World No. 18) in the Semifinals. In the end, Lin Yun-Ju won the Final easily to take the title (4-0), but this may be an announcement to the world that the 19 year old Peng is soon to be a Top 25 player.
Mima Ito was in control throughout the Finals match with teammate Hina Hayata. Ito won the first game, lost the second, then won two in a row easily. After that, they split the last two games – with Ito winning 4-2 (and winning the last game 11-1). The two Finalists teamed together to win Women’s Doubles – and Hina teamed with Tomokazu Harimoto to win Mixed Doubles (so both Ito and Hayata take home a pair of Championships)
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