Simon Gauzy of France and Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa clinched the respective Under 21 Men’s and Under 21 Women’s Singles titles at the GAC GROUP 2012 ITTF World Tour Qatar Open in Doha on Friday 10th February; both recording comparatively comprehensive victories.

Both victorious in Slovenia in January, Simon Gauzy, the no.4 seed, repeated his success in Doha, overcoming Chinese Taipei’s Hung Tzu-Hsiang, the no.8 seed, at the final hurdle in five games (11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7); whilst at the same stage, Kasumi Ishikawa, a recorded a straight games victory over Ukraine’s Margaryta Pesotska (11-4, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9).

Doubles Drama
Fine performances from the two winners but no drama; however as matters progressed on the afternoon of the fourth day of action there was drama.

China’s Li Xiaodan and Wen Jia confronting colleagues Chen Meng and Gu Yuting in the semi-finals of the Women’s Doubles event performed an escape of which the legendary Harry Houdini would have been proud.

Highway Robbery
The trailed by three games to one, they recovered to force a seventh game but in the decider trailed 6-10; from that moment they were immaculate. They won six points in a row to complete what was highway robbery.

Li Xiaodan and Wen Jia won 5-11, 11-8, 4-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10.

Singaporean Success
At the final hurdle they meet Singapore’s Li Jiawei and Sun Beibei; they accounted for the Chinese duo of Feng Yalan and Yao Yan in four straight games (11-8, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8).

Same Scenario
A straight games win for Li Jiawei and Sun Beibei; in the counterpart Men’s Doubles event it was the same margin of success for China’s Ma Lin and Xu Xin, the no.1 seeds; they beat Japan’s Kazuhiro Chan and Kenji Matsudaira, the no.3 seeds (11-7, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8) to book their place.

Surprise Pair
In the final they meet Korea’s Kim Dong Hyun and Lee Jung Woo; very much the surprise package of the event; not seeded they recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat Austria’s Robert Gardos and Daniel Habesohn in six games (10-12, 9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9, 11-7).

Confident
Places in the final booked but the afternoon of the fourth day belonged to the players who had secured gold, Simon Gauzy and Kasumi Ishikawa.

“The final was not that difficult”, said Simon Gauzy. “Hung Tzu-Hsiang was not comfortable with the spin I imparted on the ball, against heavy top spin he made mistakes; I felt confident and my backhand service also caused him problems.”

Beaten by Better Player
Meanwhile, for Margaryta Pesotska it was disappointment; however, she accepted she had been beaten by a fine player.

“Really I had no chance; she was too fast”, reflected a modest Margaryta Pesotska. “She was better in every respect, I felt helpless.”

Most Satisfactory
Defeat but a silver medal; it was a more than satisfactory conclusion to the tournament for Margaryta Pespotska.

Source: http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story1.asp?ID=26875&Competition_ID=2111&

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