Page 2 - Simon Daish News Today

By Simon Daish Showcasing promising form, having won the Under 15 Girls’ Singles title at last month’s WTT Youth Contender events in Tunis and Otocec, Suhana Saini couldn’t have asked for a better start in Muscat. Chalking up two 3-0 victories in the group stage, Saini continued her perfect opening as she beat Iran’s Baran […]

By Simon Daish Carrying out most of the heavy lifting on the opening day in Muscat, Payas Jain, 17, took another giant step towards the Under 17 Boys’ Singles title with a 3-1 win against surprise Sri Lankan semi-finalist Pitiyage Silva (11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7). Passing the first test drama-free, but Jain was aware nothing […]

By Simon Daish One of the key contenders in the Under 17 Boys’ Singles picture, Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Alshareif was made to work hard in his pursuit of a semi-final spot. Alshareif couldn’t have asked for a brighter start to his campaign, coming through his opening three fixtures without dropping a game. However, the second-highest […]

By Simon Daish A defeated finalist in the Under 17 Boys’ Singles, Alan Kurmangaliyev aimed to leave Muscat on a positive note with another title shot opening up in the Under 15 draw. Topping his group, Kurmangaliyev enjoyed a relatively trouble-free run to the final with quarter-final opponent Samran Karimi of Iran, the only player […]

By Simon Daish Sweden’s downfall came at the hands of a brilliant young Russian team. In an exciting clash of youth, Lev Katsman, 20, stunned Truls Moregard, 19, in a dramatic full distance opener (12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7) to put Russia 1-0 up. 19-year-old Maksim Grebnev produced another remarkable showing for the team as […]

By Simon Daish One of those trophies came in the Under 17 Boys’ Singles event as David Szantosi rounded off his campaign in style. Taking down one of the previous day’s standout performers, Russia’s Serafim Orlov, in the semi-finals (12-10, 11-7, 11-6), Szantosi set up an exciting clash with a formidable opponent in the title […]

By Simon Daish Russia’s Orlov endured a gruelling day at the office in the Under 17 Boys’ Singles draw, with his sixth and final fixture of the day providing his most formidable challenge. Taking on Liu Zhenlong, the second-ranked competitor in the event, Orlov embraced the occasion and his bravery was rewarded as he prevailed […]

By Simon Daish Picking up a brace, Zhmudenko toppled Aleksandr Khanin (11-7, 11-4, 11-9) and Pavel Platonov (11-4, 5-11, 11-9, 13-15, 11-8) to help his team hold off a robust all-round effort from Belarus. Yevhen Pryshchepa was the other player from Ukraine to register a win, defeating Khanin across five games (8-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, […]

By Simon Daish Dropping just the one game across his quarter-final and semi-final encounters against Tunisia’s Youssef Ben Attia (11-5, 11-7, 4-11, 11-9) and India’s Deepit Patil (11-3, 11-4, 11-7), Rassenfosse set up a title clash with fellow Belgian Louis Laffineur. Two players who know each other well, Rassenfosse and Laffineur battle it out for […]

By Simon Daish Lebrun ranked 56th in the ITTF Table Tennis Youth Rankings, achieved his first goal of progressing from the group stage with little difficulty, and couldn’t have asked for a better start to the knock-out rounds as he outclassed Belarus’ Hleb Behunou 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-4). However, Lebrun’s standout moment arrived in the […]