Gold and silver was the end result for the young ladies from Hong Kong on Saturday 7^th March at the 2015 Italian Junior and Cadet Open in Lignano Sabbiadoro; notably both conclusions were the opposite of the seeding prediction.

In the Junior Girls’ Team event the Hong Kong trio of Liu Qi, Mak Tze Wing and Zhu Chengzhu, who occupied the top seeded position in the draw, had to settle for the silver medal.

Conversely in the counterpart Cadet Girls’ Team event, the pairing of Lee Ka Yee and Wong Chin Yau, the second seeds, excelled; they completed matters standing proudly on the top step of the medal podium.

Furthermore, in both finals a three matches to nil result was the order of the day.

Belarus, represented Alina Nikitchanka, Hanna Patseyeva and Daria Trigolos, the second seeds, emerged victorious in the Junior Girls’ Team event, securing success in a most impressive manner.

Alina Nikitchanka gave the European outfit the perfect start by beating Liu Qi (11-6, 11-6, 11-13, 11-5), before Daria Trigilos defeated Zhu Chengzhu, the winner of the Junior Girls’ Singles title two days earlier (11-8, 6-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-1). Hanna Patseyeva concluded matters, by recovering from a two games to nil deficit, to beat Mak Tze Wing by the very narrowest of margins (9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10).

An impressive victory margin in the final for Belarus, it had been the same in the penultimate round. A three matches to one success was recorded again the Japanese outfit formed by Chika Aoki, Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki.

Mainstay of the success was Alina Nikitchanka; she beat both Miyuu Kihara (11-7, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6) and Chika Aoki (7-11, 11-7, 11-9) to set Belarus on course for the final.

The one further win for the victors came from Daria Trigolos in the opening match of the fixture, she beat Chika Aoki (5-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-4); for Japan the one success was recorded by Miyu Nagasaki, in the third match of the engagement, she defeated Lizaveta Tsikhanava (14-12, 11-6, 11-7).

A comfortable semi-final win for Belarus, the penultimate round had proved very different for Hong Kong; the Austrian trio comprising Karoline Mischek, Jessica Zlatilova and Sophia Kellerman extended the eventual silver medallists the full five match distance.

The player to cause Hong Kong problems was Karoline Mischek. She accounted for Liu Qi in the opening match (11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 11-6) and Zhu Chengzhu in the fourth (5-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8, 11-8) but those were to be the only Austrian successes.

Jessica Zlatilova was beaten by Zhu Chengzhu (11-3, 11-3, 11-6) and in vital fifth contest of the fixture by Liu Qi (11-8, 11-5, 11-5); after, in the third contest of the engagement, Sophia Kellerman had lost to Mak Tze Wing (7-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-2).

Meanwhile, in the Cadet Girls’ Team event, there was no stopping Lee Ka Yee and Wong Chin Yau.

In the final against the Czech Republic, the fifth seeds, Lee Ka Yee gave Hong Kong the perfect start by beating Anezka Ilcikova (11-2, 11-13, 11-7, 11-4), before Wong Chin Yau accounted for Zdena Blaskova (11-8, 15-13, 11-9) and, with no changes to either team, a doubles contest concluded matters (14-12, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8).

Earlier the Hong Kong duo had beaten the sixth seeded Belgian outfit comprising Natacha Koszulap, Jana Bernard and Morgane Guidon in the quarter-finals by three matches to one, before securing their place in the final in an even more impressive manner.

They posted a three-nil win against the seventh seeded Spanish team formed by Ana Garcia, Belen Calvo and Alba Fernandez.

Victories as status predicted; it was quite the reverse for Zdena Blaskova and Anezka Ilcikova; they upset the seeding at both the quarter and semi-final stages.

In the round of the last eight, they overcame the third seeded Slovak Republic pairing of Natalia Grigelova and Tatiana Kukulkova by three matches to one, before causing a most notable upset. They beat the top seeded partnership of India’s Archana Girish Kamatch and Marharyta Baltushite of Belarus by three matches to nil.

Article by: Ian Marshall

Photo By: Domenico Vallorini