Romania’s eighteen year old Elizabeta Samara further advanced her claim to being the most successful player ever on the ITTF World Junior Circuit, when she captured the Girls’ Singles crown at the Spanish Junior Open in Platja D’Aro on Sunday 13th May 2007.
The victory was her fifth of the year having won previously in Tunisia, Bahrain, Qatar and Sweden.

Seeded one, she beat Germany’s Amelie Solja in the final 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7.

No Final Game Needed
At no stage of the proceedings was the Romanian extended the full distance.

She progressed to the quarter-finals without the loss of a single individual game where she maintained her unblemished record to beat Germany’s Zhan Ying-Ni 11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 12-10 to book a semi-final encounter with Korea’s Kim Min Hee.

Younger Adversary
A testing opponent but Elizabeta Samara rose the occasion and won in five games, succeeding 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5.

“She’s younger than me”, said Elizabeta Samara. “ had more experience and perhaps she was a little afraid.” Kim Min Hee is sixteen years old, a topspin shakehands grip attacking player, who had accounted for Russia’s Ekaterina Kolodyazhnaya, the 2005 European Cadet Girls’ Singles champion, in seven games at the quarter-final stage. The quarter-final win underlines her quality.

German Awaits
Awaiting Elizabeta Samara in the final was Germany’s Amelie Solja, the second seed whose close to the table style of play had caused her adversaries endless problems. She uses reversed rubber on the forehand, long pimples on the backhand and has intense powers of concentration.

The German had recorded a series of straight games wins to reach the quarters, where she had beaten doubles partner Rosalia Stähr in five games before accounting for Russia’s Elena Troshneva in emphatic style in the semis. Amelia Solja won in straight games.

Taking Note
“I watched her play Elena Troshneva so I knew it would be a really hard match in the final”, said Elizabeta Samara. “Before the match I thought I could win but I lost the first game.”

However, Elizabeta Samara retained her composure and used her skill to great effect to secure victory despite finding it very difficult to establish a rhythm against the German girl.

Different Spins
“It’s very difficult to player Amelie, sometimes the ball has no spin, sometimes heavy backspin”, explained Elizabeta Samara. “So long as I kept thinking and I kept my eyes open I knew I could win!”

The Romanian did keep her eyes open, she did keep thinking and she cemented her position at the top of the ITTF World Junior Circuit Girls’ Standings; she can start to make plans for a trip to Cape Town in October 2007 for the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals.