(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTFWorld)
India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran breezed through 5 matches without losing a game to claim the 2021 ITTF Czech International Open title. His 4-0 wins included a Semifinal trouncing of Truls Moregard (the winner in Budapest last week). The win this week is a total turn-around for Gnanasekaran as a week ago, he struggled in the first round against France’s Akkuzo before losing in the Round of 16 against Niagol Stoyanov. This week, however, there was no question as the top seeded Gnanasekaran ripped through the competition including a 4-0 Finals win over Yevhen Pryshchepa of the Ukraine.
For Moregard, he entered the event seeded third and lost to the higher-ranked Gnanasekaran (in the Semifinal). He also paired with England’s Sam Walker to win Men’s Doubles. Solid results for the young Swede – a week after winning the Challenger event in Budapest.
Monoco’s Xiaoxin Yang won the Women’s Singles 4-0 over Marila Tailakova of Russia.
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