Golden Trio Maintains Form, More Medals Destined for Europe
2015 ITTF World Cadet Challenge
Courtesy of ITTF
Three days earlier Romania’s Cristian Pletea, Lithuania’s Medardas Stankevicius and Sweden’s Truls Moregard had combined to secure gold for Europe in the Boys’ Team event at the 2015 ITTF World Cadet Challenge in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt; three days later, on Friday October 30th, they all reserved semi-final places in the Boys’ Singles event.
The appearance of Cristian Pletea was as expected, he occupied the top seeded position; the success of Medardas Stankevicius was somewhat against expectations; that of Truls Moregard was a major surprise.
Quarter-Finals
At the quarter-final stage Cristian Pletea beat Korea’s Song Hyunjun, the no.5 seed (7-11, 11-8, 4-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5); Medardas Stankevicius, the no.7 seed, upset the order of merit by overcoming Jack Wang of the United States, the no.4 seed (11-9, 11-9, 11-2, 6-11, 12-10), whilst Truls Moregard excelled all expectations to beat Japan’s Koyo Kanamitsu, the no.2 seed.
Keeping his nerve, maintaining his concentration; Truls Moregard emerged successful by the very narrowest of margins in a seven games thriller (11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 9-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9).
Gracious in Defeat
“It was a very difficult match I played really well, it was two-two, then three-three, so it was a very close match”, reflected Truls Moregard. “I’m really happy to have won this match.”
A quarter-final exit for Koyo Kanamitsu, who was very gracious in defeat having, in the opening round, beaten Victor Liu of the United States (11-5, 11-8, 11-5, 11-13, 11-9).
“I knew Victor was a good player so I was a little nervous before the match but I was well prepared and at the start of the match I feel I played well”, said Koyo Kanamitsu. “I had a good preparation for the match against Truls, he played well and it was a very close match.”
Determination
Victory in seven games for Truls Moregard, it was exactly the same for Cristian Pletea.
“My match against Song Hyunjun was so hard, when I started the match I wasn’t confident and I had a problem receiving the serve”, said Cristian Pletea. “After it was three-one for him I said to myself that I must not lose; I started to fight, he made some easy mistakes and that gave me a big chance.”
Success for Yang Shuo
Wins for Europe, in the one remaining Boys’ Singles quarterfinal duel it was success for Asia and success as status predicted; China’s Yang Shuo, the no.3 seed, beat Egypt’s Youssef Abdel-Aziz, the no.6 seed (11-6, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4).
At the semi-final stage Cristian Pletea meets Yang Shuo, Truls Moregard opposes Medardas Stankevicius.
Surprise Defeat
Success for Cristian Pletea at the quarterfinal stage of the Boys’ Singles event but in the same round of the Boys’ Doubles competition, there was a shock defeat.
Partnering Moldova’s Cristian Chirita and occupying the top seeded position, the duo experienced a four games defeat at the hands of Korea’s Song Junhyun and India’s Parth Virmani (12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5).
Narrow Margin
Defeat for one European pairing but not for another; Truls Moregard and Medardas Stankevicius, justified their no.3 seeded position by overcoming the combination of Argentina’s Martin Bentancor and Brazil’s Guilherme Teodoro but it was a mighty close affair, the duo from the old continent was stretched to the limit.
They emerged successful in a titanic five games duel, succeeding by the very narrowest of margins (2-11, 11-5, 12-10, 9-11, 16-14).
“In the first game we didn’t play 100 per cent and then we started having problems trying to finding solutions, it was a hard match”, said Medardas Stankevicius. “It was great as we won 16-14 in the last game; I hope we can reach the final.”
Mixed Fortunes for North America
A five games win for Truls Moregard and Medardas Stankevicius, it was the same for Koyo Kanamitsu and Yang Shuo, the no.2 seeds, but not quite so dramatic; they beat the Canadian combination of Jeremy Hazin and Jason Liu (11-7, 10-12, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4).
Disappointment for North America but there was success; the United States partnership of Victor Liu and Jack Wang, the no.4 seeds, accounted for the partnership formed by Egypt’s Youssef Abdel-Aziz and Tunisia’s Nathael Hamdoun (11-3, 11-5, 12-10).
Semi-Finals
In the penultimate round Victor Liu and Jack Wang meet Song Junhyun and Parth Virmani; Truls Moregard and Medardas Stankevicius oppose Koyo Kanamitsu and Yang Shuo.
Play Concludes
Play concludes on Saturday October 31st with the finals of the individual events.
Watch the Semi-finals & Finals Live now, plus visit ITTF.com for complete coverage.
