Half a Century Later, Darko Jorgic Secures Third Title of Year
2015 Hungarian Junior and Cadet Open
Courtesy of ITTF

Winner earlier in the year in Egypt and Serbia, Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic collected his third ITTF Junior Circuit Boys’ Singles title of the year, when he emerged successful at the 2015 Hungarian Junior and Cadet Open in Szombathely on Thursday November 5th.

Occupying the no.2 seeded position in the competition, in the latter rounds he accounted for German qualifier, Tobias Hippler at the quarter-final stage (11-9, 11-4, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6) before overcoming Japan’s Takuto Izumo, the no.6 seed, in a hard fought seven games duel (4-11, 13-11, 4-11, 11-8, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6) to reserve his place in the final.

A tense penultimate round encounter; it was the same in the final. He needed the full seven games to beat Austria’s Andreas Levenko, the no.8 seed (6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 2-11, 11-3, 11-6).

Even Closer
Close calls, it was even closer in the round prior to the last eight.

Not required to compete in the opening round, he accounted for Swedish qualifier, Viktor Gullbo in round two (11-6, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8) and Hungary’s Mate Bruckner, the no.29 seed in round three (11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8); before in round four, being stretched to the very limit by Russia’s Andrey Semenov, the no.16 seed.

Darko Jorgic recovered from a three games to one deficit, eventually emerging successful by the very minimum two point margin in the deciding seventh game (13-11, 8-11, 8-11, 7-11, 12-10, 12-10, 13-11).

Long Matches
“I had two really long matches before the final; the doubles final was also a really tight one”, said Darko Jorgic, after beating Andreas Levenko to secure the top prize.

“I was a little tired, in the first two games I played so badly”, added Darko Jorgic. “After realizing he predominantly blocks, safe and defensive, I put more power into my strokes; after I won the third game I became more confident.”

Incredible Number of Matches
Tired, I’m not surprised Darko Jorgic was tired.

In addition to the six Junior Boys’ Singles matches, he played three rounds in the Junior Boys’ Doubles event; all three matches being full distance five games encounters.

Partnering Tomas Polansky, the top seeds, they beat Italy’s Antonino Amato and Daniele in the quarter-finals (11-8, 9-11, 11-2, 8-11, 11-9), the combination of Aliaksandr Khanin of Belarus and Russia’s Nikita Yarshin in the penultimate round (6-11, 11-3, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9), prior to suffering defeat in the final against Chinese Taipei’s Li Hsin-Ying and Yu Xheng-Feng (11-8, 5-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6).

Total Games in a Day
In a day that started at 9.00am and was scheduled to finish at 9.30pm; Darko Jorgic played a total of nine matches, six in the Junior Boys’ Singles event, three in the Junior Boys’ Doubles competition.

Overall he played 51 games; a total of 36 in the Junior Boys’ Singles event, a further 15 in the Junior Boys’ Doubles competition; a day lasting some 12 and a half hours, Darko Jorgic played a game of table tennis every 15 minutes!

Rather Quieter
Comparatively, it was a rather quiet time for Andreas Levenko!

He accounted qualifiers on his first two visits to the table in the Junior Boys’ Singles event, overcoming Germany’s Nils Hohmeier (11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10), before beating Italy’s Daniele Pinto (12-10, 11-8, 5-11, 11-2, 12-10) to reserve his place in the third round.

Good form in his opening two contests, it was maintained in his third. He beat Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Chin-Yu, the no.20 seed (8-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8), prior to overcoming Danish qualifier Anders Lind (11-7, 13-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7) and Japan’s Yukiya Uda, the no.7 seed (9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9) to reserve his place in the final.

Early Exit for Top Seed
A place in the final for Andreas Levenko was somewhat of a surprise; however the biggest upset of the day was the defeat of Puerto Rico’s Brian Afanador, the top seed, on his first visit to the table.

An opening round bye, he was beaten by the Czech Republic qualifier Patrik Klos (11-8, 5-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4), who progressed to the third round where Anders Lind ended adventures (11-6, 11-5, 12-10, 11-9).

Amazing Feeling
“It feels so amazing that I could beat Brian Afanador; I’ve never played before against someone so high in the rankings”, said Patrik Klos; the Puerto Rican presently stands at no.18 on the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings.

“I played strongly after my service and tried to win the points quickly”, added Patrik Klos. “I’m so happy with the win but it hasn’t made me over confident.”

Early Exits
An earlier than expected exit for Brian Afanador; it was the same for three further notable names. Romania’s Cristian Pletea, the Czech Republic’s Tomas Polansky and Aliaksandr Khanin of Belarus suffered unexpected defeats.

Both Cristian Pletea, the no.3 seed and Tomas Polansky, the no.4 seed, departed at the quarter-final stage. Cristian Pletea was beaten by Takuto Izumo (11-9, 14-12, 7-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-7); Tomas Polansky by Yukiya Uda (11-9, 14-12, 7-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-7).

“It was really challenging playing against a higher ranked player”, said Takuto Izumo after beating Cristian Pletea. “First I tried with my forehand, but then realized I could be more successful with my backhands; I’m really happy, a good result.”

Third Round Farewell
Quarter-final defeats for Cristian Pletea and Tomas Polansky; it was a third round exit for Aliaksandr Khanin, the no.5 seed.

He was beaten by Russia’s Lev Katsman (11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7) who one round later experienced defeat at the hands of Tobias Hippler (10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5).

Team Events Commence 
Proceedings in the Junior Boys’ Singles and Junior Boys’ Doubles events over; attention now turns to the Junior Boys’ Team and Cadet Boys’ Team events.

Matters commence on Friday November 6th.