Indore: Japan’s Izumo Takuto and Hong Kong’s Zhu Chengzhu became the Boys and Girls champions in the 11Even Sports 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals at the Abhay Prashal here today.
The three-day event came to the conclusion when the Japanese hardly dropped a sweat when he beat Carlos Vedriel from Spain 4-0 in what was a one-sided final while Zhu, despite an upper hand, overcame a stiff resistance to beat Park Seri of Korea 4-2. The each winner will carry home $3,800 while the runners-up both sections receive $2,100 each.
The boys’ final did not raise any din that one would have expected as the Japanese was fast and attacking right from the first game. Carlos, on the other hand, having played a hard-fought semifinal was under some sort of strain and that was very much evident in his game plan.
The fifth-seeded Japanese stopped his rival at seven points in the first two games and then hastened the proceedings further by finishing off with three and five points in the third and fourth to lift the crystal trophy.
“I played my natural game as I was determined to attack right from the word go. Carlos was making surprisingly too many mistakes and it helped my cause,” said the Japanese. “I could gauge his body language after the second game and I simply kept the ball on the table for him to make mistakes,” added the fifth seed.
Even the girls’ final too seemed going to semifinals way when the 12th seeded Korean changed her strategy with a lot of service variations, including tossed-up services, to outsmart her Hong Kong rival Zhu Chengzhu. But the third seed was quick to grasp it and adapt her game accordingly despite losing the fifth game which saw good rallies being converted into excellent winners by the Korean
The win had restored some confidence in Park but in the next Zhu was up to the task and surged ahead with a 3-1 lead and 5-3. But credit must go to the Korean for her patience as she made it it 7-all before giving away a three negative points much to the delight of the girl from Hong Kong.
“When I entered the arena for the final, the loss to Park Seri in the group match was at the back of my mind. I wanted to make amends for the 2-4 loss and more determined. But she quickly changed her strategy but I adapted quickly to the changes. Even in the sixth game she was down but came back to level 7-7, slowing down the game. Luckily, she gave three easy points that helped my cause,” said Zhu.
A Mixed bag
After having playing so well for the past two days, American Zhang Kai failed against the fifth seed in the penultimate round as the Japanese Izumo Takuto just toyed with him. After putting himself in the comfort zone, he let Zhang take a game but even before he could take any further liberty the fifth seed stopped Zhang without a fuss. No doubt, Zhang tried all tricks in his book in the fifth game which Izumo won on extended points.
In contrast, the second semifinal between top-seed Korean An Jaehyun and 10th seed Spaniard Crlos Vedriel went the full distance and had all glimpses of a top-shot match with long rallies, fast backhand drives and service variations.
The Korean was down and out at 0-3 with Carlos hitting a nice rhythm. In the fourth game, too, Carlos went up 7-5 after being down 3-5 and was just four points away from the match. That was when Jaehyun took his early timeout and it paid dividends as he first levelled the score and benefited from a couple of net errors by his opponent to win his first game. In the next, he ran away with a huge lead to win. But it was the sixth game where both were wobbly with fortunes changing hands with slender leads. But when Carlos missed his first match point, the Korean shut him down to take the issue to the decider.
In the decider, Carlos was lagging behind by a few points when the Korean went 5-3 up. But the Spaniard closed down on the lead and played brilliant combination drives with great speed. Already under pressure, the No. 1 seed could not cope with his rival’s sudden burst and wilted committing a crucial service error at 7-7 to allow his opponent an upper hand. After losing the first match-point, he served well to cash in on the second and win.
But the girls’ semifinals did not throw up any surprises both Romanians bowed out when the third-seed Zhu Chengzhu from Hong Kong easily beat No. 5 Andreea Dragoman and top-seeded Adina Daconu went down to twelfth seeded Korean Park Seri, both 4-0 verdicts.
Depite being technically sound and having good service variations, Zhu struggled a bit—she was extended in three games—before putting it across Andreea. Park Seri, too, faced some heat, particularly in the second and fourth, against Adina but then the Korean determination won her the day.
Results:
Junior Boys: Final: Izumo Takuto (JPN) bt Carlos Vedriel (ESP) 4-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-3, 11-5); Semifinals: Izumo Takuto (JPN) bt Zhang Kai (USA) 4-1 (11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10), Carlos Vedriel (ESP) bt An Jaehyun (KOR) 4-3 (11-7, 13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 1-11, 10-12, 11-8).
Junior Girls: Final: Zhu Chengzhu (HKG) bt Park Seri (KOR) 4-2 (11-4, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7); Semifinals: Zhu Chengzhu (HKG) bt Andreea Dragoman (ROU) 4-0 (12-10, 12-10, 11-4, 12-10), Park Seri (KOR) bt Adina Diaconu (ROU) 4-0 (11-5, 14-12, 11-7, 12-10).
