China’s Tang Liying and Chinese Taipei’s Chiang Hung-Chieh succeded
in the finals of the Women’s and Men’s Singles events respectively on
the last day of competition, Friday 10th July, at the Universiade in
Belgrade. They both overcame Japanese opponents.
The women’s
final was a one-sided affair with a four-nil win for Tang being posted
against Yuka Ishigaki, however in the Men’s Singles final, 20 year old
Hidetoshi Oya came back in the Men’s final from a three-nil down in
games. Oya eventually lost the seventh game 8-11.
Four Countries on the Podium
Behind
winner Chiang Hung-Chieh (world number 96) and Hidetoshi Oya (no. 129),
two Europeans won the bronze medals. China’s nightmare Aleksandr Didukh
of Ukraine received the well-earned accolade after he had ousted two
Chinese, a Serb and a Frenchman.
The other bronze medal was for Frenchman Adrien Mattenet.
Japan Wins Eight Medals but with a Blot
In
the Women’s Singles, Tang Liying of China won the event but Japan had
two medallists with Yuka Ishigaki (silver) and Moemi Terui (bronze).
Eventually the Nippon students won eight medals, even two more than China.
In
the medals table, however, Japan finished only third ranked behind
China and Chinese Taipei, because its players failed to win a gold
medals.
Mattenet Triple Bronze Medallist
The
21-year-old Frenchman Adrien Mattenet had to fight to secure his third
medal. In the quarter-finals against China’s Li Yang, Mattenet had to
save no less than four match points before qualifying for the semis.
"The
end of the match was pretty crazy with lots of high balls", Mattenet
looked back to the seventh game in the quarter-final that he had won
19-17. "On the last high ball, he made the mistake."
About his
overall performance the two times silver and one time bronze medallist
said: "I am a bit disappointed that I did not win a gold medal here but
okay, the linking of the Mediterranean Games and the Universiade was
really nice with medals each time. I guess we have more confidence in
our system of play; especially we take more risks in the key moments
and that’s how to grab games and victories."
Source: www.ittf.com
