Repeat Success, Truls Moregard Retains Form, Upsets Seeding
2015 ITTF World Cadet Challenge
Courtesy of ITTF

Success against Song Junhyun by Truls Moregard secured gold for Europe in the Boys’ Team event on the second day of competition at the 2015 ITTF World Cadet Challenge in Sharm El-Sheikh; on the fourth day of play, Thursday October 29th, the Swede repeated the success to record the biggest shock of the day in the first stage of the Boys’ Singles event.

He beat Song Junhyun, the no.5 seed, in a full distance five games duel (8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5) to remain unbeaten and secure first place in the group.

The consolation for Song Junjyun was that he finished in second place and thus advanced to the main draw; players finishing in first and second positions in each of the eight groups booked second stage places.

Feeling Good
“I feel so good, he is a very good player, it is very nice to win this match; it was the most difficult match in my group, so I am happy for that”, said Truls Moregard. “I think if I play really well I can reach the final; I tried to play short, spin after my serve and I used my backhand block also to take advantage.”

Narrow Margin
Defeat for Song Junhyun and there was a close call for Canada’s Jeremy Hazin, the no.8 seed.

He experienced defeat in his concluding group stage match; he was beaten in five games by Argentina’s Martin Bentancor (11-9, 3-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7). Earlier Martin Bentancor had been beaten in four games by Egypt’s Ahmed Elborhamy (6-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9); a player who one match later had experienced defeat at the hands of Jeremy Hazin in a similar four games duel (11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9).

Thus games ratio determined the outcome. It was first place for Jeremy Hazin (5:4) with Ahmed Elborhamy is second position (4:4) and Martin Bentancor third (4:5).

Long Rallies
“My first match against Jeremy Hazin was difficult he made the rallies really long, my coach advised me to play short and start attacking his forehand, it worked well but there was no luck”, said Ahmed Elborhamy. “Against Martin Bentancor, it was special, I had to concentrate on every point as it was my last chance, I lost the first game, I was afraid that it was over; my coach encouraged me and told me not to give up and win the next three games; that is what I did and I am really happy.”

Close Calls
A close call for Jeremy Hazin, there was also a close call for Jack Wang of the United States, the no.4 seed and for Lithuania’s Medardas Stankevicius, the no.7 seed.

Both remained unbeaten but both were stretched to the limit.

Notably Jack Wang had to recover from a two games to nil deficit to beat Tunisia’s Nathael Hamdoun, the American emerging successful by the minimal margin in the decider (6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 13-11).

Nerves
“I was really nervous after being two-nil down, I thought if I continue playing like that I will lose, so I started to play slower and I relaxed more; my coach told me to be more consistent as I was nervous”, said Jack Wang. “My goal is to reach the final.”

A close defeat for Nathael Hamdoun but he did secure second place and thus progressed to the main draw.

“I guess he was afraid of me, he was nervous in the first two games, I was leading two-nil and it was 7-4 for me; he took a “Time Out” and I lost my concentration”, explained Nathael Hamdoun. “In the fifth game he was ahead 8-4, I recovered to 9-all, I missed a service return at 11-all, we were both nervous.”

Same Margin
A full distance five games success for Jack Wang against an African adversary; it was the same for Medardas Stankevicius, he was extended the full distance by Egypt’s Marwan Abdelwahab (11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 13-15, 11-6).

Similar to Nathael Hamdoun, Marwan Abdelwahab duly gained second place in the group.

Asserted Authority
Meanwhile, in the remaining groups, the leading names all asserted their authority on proceedings without the need for a deciding fifth game.

It was first place for Romania’s Cristian Pletea, Japan’s Koyo Kanamitsu, China’s Yang Shuo and Egypt’s Youssef Abdel-Aziz; respective second places went to Brazil’s Guilherme Teodoro, Romania’s Cristian Chirita, Peru’s Rodrigo Hidalgo and Victor Liu of the United States.

Boys’ Doubles
Success for leading names in the Boys’ Singles event; there were also successes for the leading pairs in the first round of the Boys’ Doubles competition.

Cristian Chirita and Cristian Pletea, the top seed, beat the Oceania combination of New Caledonia’s Ronan Aubry and Kiribati’s Tauramoa Mita (11-4, 11-4, 11-4); while Koyo Kanamitsu and Yang Shuo, the second seeds, overcame the partnership of Algeria’s Abdelbasset Chaici and Marvin Liu Chung Ming of Mauritius (11-4, 11-5, 11-6).

Likewise, Truls Moregard and Medardas Stankevicius, the no.3 seeds, accounted for the partnership of Australia’s Ben Gould and New Zealand’s Kevin Lin (11-8, 11-7, 11-6); Victor Liu and Jack Wang of the United States, the no.4 seeds, ended the aspirations of the Hopes Team duo formed by Nigeria’s Abayomi Animasahun and Nikhil Kumar of the United States (11-5, 9-11, 16-14, 11-8).

Main Draw
Play in the main draw of all events continues of Friday October 30th.

View all results from today’s matches at the 2015 World Cadet Challenge.

Follow the Events:

• Boys Singles
• Girls Singles 
• Boys Doubles
• Girls Doubles
• Mixed Doubles

Watch today’s ITTF’s World Cadet Challenge video streams, plus visit ITTF for complete coverage.