Romanias fifteen year old Camelia Postoaca, the number five seed; a player who had suffered defeat in the first stage of proceedings and progressed to the knock-out stage as a group runner up, was the surprise winner of the Girls Singles event at the Bahrain Junior Open in Manama on Sunday 9th March 2008.

At the final hurdle she beat compatriot and top seed, Cristina Hirici in six games to clinch gold.

Camelia Postoaca won 13-10, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6,

Revenge
It was for the Romanian teenager sweet revenge; in the first ITTF Junior Circuit tournament of the year, the Joola German Junior Open in Selingenstad, Camelia Postoaca had lost in the final to Cristina Hirici.


Having ousted Hong Kong’s Lee Ho Ching, the second seed, in the opening round; Camelia Postoaca defeated a further Romanian, Bernadette Szocs in the quarters and fourth seed, Singapore’s Zena Sim in the final.

Korean Opponents
Meanwhile, Cristina Hirici had proved the nemesis for Korea, beating players from that country in the opening round, the quarters and the semis; the respective victims being Kim A Young, Cheon Se Eun and Lee Pil Rang.

Success for Korea
Defeats for Korea in the Girls’ Singles event but that was not the scenario in the Girls’ Doubles or in the Cadet Girls’ Singles competition.

In the Girls’ Doubles event Bang Ji Ae and Cheon Jie Eun emerged as the champions.

They beat top seeds Cristina Hirici and Anamaria Sebe in the semi-finals and the pairing of Andrea Dospina and Camelia Postoaca in the final; the latter duo had ousted Hong Kong’s Lee Ho Ching and Ng Wing Nam at the penultimate stage.

Cadet Girls’ Singles
Success for Cheon Se Eun in the Girls’ Doubles and also in the Cadet Girls’ Singles event where she overcame top seed Singapore’s Isabelle Li in the semis before ousting compatriot Bang Ji Ae in the final; the latter having overcome second seed, Romania’s Bernadette Szocs in the semis.

At the final hurdle Cheon Se Eun succeeded 11-5, 11-3, 11-6.

Articol publicat de Ian Marshall pe pagina oficiala a Federatiei Internationale de Tenis de Masa, www.ittf.com.