“Sasha” Malov wins in Slovenia
The World Table Tennis Youth Circuit was back in Europe last week after a short summer break with two Contender tournaments in Varazdin, Croatia and Otocec, Slovenia. Among the compass players, Alexander Malov won the U13 tournament in Otocec and was runner-up in Varazdin. Colombian Emanuel Otalvaro finished in the top four in the U15 tournament in Otocec and Swede Siri Benjegård was runner-up in the U13 tournament in Varazdin.
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Alexander ”Sasha” Malov in action in Otocec. Photo: WTT
Alexander “Sasha” Malov had the best start of the new season by winning the U13 event in Slovenia. In the knockout stage, Sasha beat Ignacy Utylski from Poland 3-0. In the semi-final he played the very strong Louis Fegerl from Austria, was 0:2 down in games and 2:6, but managed to come back to win the match 12:10 in the decider.
In the final against Tjen Nghia Phong from Germany, Malov again showed a strong heart and head, coming back from 2:8 down in the decider to win 11:9.
“Both the semi-finals and the final were very tough matches,” said Nuria Castro, Alexander’s mother and coach. “In the last few months Sasha has improved a lot mentally. We still have to work on it, but he is still young and in Otocec he was able to turn both matches around, which was very strong of him”.
Silver in Varazdin
In Varazdin, Sasha defeated Filip Nagy from Slovakia in straight games in the U13 semi-final and then lost 2:3 to Ma Yeungjun from Korea Republic – 12:10, 11:9, 5:11, 8:11, 14:16!
“It was a great match with a lot of spectacular long rallies. It’s a shame that we couldn’t win it”.
Sasha also played well in both U15 events. He reached the last 32 in Otocec and the last 16 in Varazdin.
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Emanuel Otalvaro during the tournament in Varazdin. Photo: WTT
Semi-final for Otalvaro
In the U17 category in Otocec, Emanuel Otalvaro reached the round of the last 64 in the knockout stage where he lost 3:1 to Soma Ono from Japan. In the U15 category, Emanuel was more successful, defeating Jonas Rinderer of Germany, Yuta Ito of Japan and Berk Oztopak of Turkey in the knockout stage, before losing in straight games to the eventual champion Soh Yoshida of Japan in the semi-finals.
In Varazdin, Otalvaro pushed the limits, playing only in the U19 (where he did not qualify for the knockout stage) and U17 (where he finished in the last 32).
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Siri Benjegård goes for a backhand in Varazdin. Photo: WTT
Siri second
In the U13 event in Varazdin, Sweden’s Siri Benjegård won her group and defeated Anna Walter from Germany in straight games in the quarter-finals and Monika Sonnenberg from Poland in the semi-finals. In the final, Siri had no chance against Coccona Muramatsu of Japan – 6:11, 5:11, 6:11.
“Siri came back to 6-6 in the first game, but then she could not keep up the level in the rest of the match,” coach Peter Andersson said afterwards. “All in all she played well, but it was not one of her best tournaments this year.”
In the U15 event, Siri finished 10th after losing to the eventual runner-up, Rio Shintani of Japan.
Siri Benjegård did not fare so well in Otocec. In the U13 she failed to qualify for the knockout stage and in the U15 she lost in the first round of the knockout stage to Lisanne Tschimpke from Germany.
Danilo Faso through to the last 16
compass supported Danilo Faso lost in the first round of the knockout stage at U19 in Varazdin. At U17, Danilo defeated Rohan Dani of England and then lost in straight games to finalist Kazuki Yoshiyama.
Turkey’s Görkem Öcal, also supported by compass, reached the last 64 in the U17 event in Varazdin and in the U19 event he beat Germany’s Manuel Prohaska 3:2 before losing 3:1 to India’s Divyansh Srivastava in the round of 32.
More information about the tournaments and all results can be found at:
“Sasha” Malov wins in Slovenia
“Sasha” Malov wins in Slovenia
The World Table Tennis Youth Circuit was back in Europe last week after a short summer break with two Contender tournaments in Varazdin, Croatia and Otocec, Slovenia. Among the compass players, Alexander Malov won the U13 tournament in Otocec and was runner-up in Varazdin. Colombian Emanuel Otalvaro finished in the top four in the U15 tournament in Otocec and Swede Siri Benjegård was runner-up in the U13 tournament in Varazdin.
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Alexander ”Sasha” Malov in action in Otocec. Photo: WTT
Alexander “Sasha” Malov had the best start of the new season by winning the U13 event in Slovenia. In the knockout stage, Sasha beat Ignacy Utylski from Poland 3-0. In the semi-final he played the very strong Louis Fegerl from Austria, was 0:2 down in games and 2:6, but managed to come back to win the match 12:10 in the decider.
In the final against Tjen Nghia Phong from Germany, Malov again showed a strong heart and head, coming back from 2:8 down in the decider to win 11:9.
“Both the semi-finals and the final were very tough matches,” said Nuria Castro, Alexander’s mother and coach. “In the last few months Sasha has improved a lot mentally. We still have to work on it, but he is still young and in Otocec he was able to turn both matches around, which was very strong of him”.
Silver in Varazdin
In Varazdin, Sasha defeated Filip Nagy from Slovakia in straight games in the U13 semi-final and then lost 2:3 to Ma Yeungjun from Korea Republic – 12:10, 11:9, 5:11, 8:11, 14:16!
“It was a great match with a lot of spectacular long rallies. It’s a shame that we couldn’t win it”.
Sasha also played well in both U15 events. He reached the last 32 in Otocec and the last 16 in Varazdin.
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Emanuel Otalvaro during the tournament in Varazdin. Photo: WTT
Semi-final for Otalvaro
In the U17 category in Otocec, Emanuel Otalvaro reached the round of the last 64 in the knockout stage where he lost 3:1 to Soma Ono from Japan. In the U15 category, Emanuel was more successful, defeating Jonas Rinderer of Germany, Yuta Ito of Japan and Berk Oztopak of Turkey in the knockout stage, before losing in straight games to the eventual champion Soh Yoshida of Japan in the semi-finals.
In Varazdin, Otalvaro pushed the limits, playing only in the U19 (where he did not qualify for the knockout stage) and U17 (where he finished in the last 32).
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Siri Benjegård goes for a backhand in Varazdin. Photo: WTT
Siri second
In the U13 event in Varazdin, Sweden’s Siri Benjegård won her group and defeated Anna Walter from Germany in straight games in the quarter-finals and Monika Sonnenberg from Poland in the semi-finals. In the final, Siri had no chance against Coccona Muramatsu of Japan – 6:11, 5:11, 6:11.
“Siri came back to 6-6 in the first game, but then she could not keep up the level in the rest of the match,” coach Peter Andersson said afterwards. “All in all she played well, but it was not one of her best tournaments this year.”
In the U15 event, Siri finished 10th after losing to the eventual runner-up, Rio Shintani of Japan.
Siri Benjegård did not fare so well in Otocec. In the U13 she failed to qualify for the knockout stage and in the U15 she lost in the first round of the knockout stage to Lisanne Tschimpke from Germany.
Danilo Faso through to the last 16
compass supported Danilo Faso lost in the first round of the knockout stage at U19 in Varazdin. At U17, Danilo defeated Rohan Dani of England and then lost in straight games to finalist Kazuki Yoshiyama.
Turkey’s Görkem Öcal, also supported by compass, reached the last 64 in the U17 event in Varazdin and in the U19 event he beat Germany’s Manuel Prohaska 3:2 before losing 3:1 to India’s Divyansh Srivastava in the round of 32.
More information about the tournaments and all results can be found at:
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