2016 Serbia and Junior Cadet Open in Vrnjacka Banja
Serbia clinched both the Junior Girls’ Team and Cadet Girls’ Team titles at the 2016 Serbia and Junior Cadet Open in Vrnjacka Banja. The trio comprising Tijana JOKIC Izabela LUPULESKU and Dragana VIGNJEVIC emerged victorious in the Junior Girls; in the Cadets the top honours were bestowed on the shoulders of Reka BEZEG and Kalina HRISTOVA.
Tijana JOKIC Izabela LUPULESKU and Dragana VIGNJEVIC occupying the top seeded position in the event recorded a three matches to nil win in opposition to their Serbia ‘B’ Team colleagues Ana ALEKSANDRIC Edina BENKO and Andjela MENGER before recording the same margin of victory in the final. They showed no mercy when confronting the outfit formed by Portugal’s Raquel ANDRADE who joined forces with Nadezhda BOGDANOVA of Belarus and Norway’s Ilka DOVAL.
Star of the Cadet Girls’ Team competition was Radmila TOMINJAK. At the semi-final stage against Serbia ‘B’ she beat Danijela KARKUSOVA whilst combining with Reka BEZEG to secure the doubles at the expense of Lilla KOVACS-KATONA and Anna FEJOS.
Later in the final in opposition to Bulgaria ‘A’ in a second three matches to one victory she overcame both Kalina HRISTOVA and Kalina HRISTOVA.
Winner of the Junior Boys’ Singles title two days earlier Jiri MARTINKO added to his list of success by guiding the Czech Republic to success in the Junior Boys’ Team event. Joining forces with Patrik KLOS the player he had beaten in the Junior Boys’ Singles final and Tomas KOLDAS he remained unbeaten as the second seeds claimed the top prize.
In contests that went the full five match distance; at the semi-final stage against Serbia ‘A’ Jiri MARTINKO beat both Pero TEPIC and Aleksa GACEV; before in the final accounting for Bahrain’s Rashed SANAD in a titanic five games duel and in an equally closely fought duel Montenegro’s Filip RADOVIC to seal the Czech win.
Patrik KLOS accounted for Pero TEPIC in the vital fifth and deciding match of the fixture. Later in the final in the opening match of the engagement he defeated Filip RADOVIC.
Success for the Czech Republic in the Junior Boys’ Team event; in the Cadet Boys’ Team event it was success for the Croatian partnership of Ivor BAN and Jakov JAKELIC. At the final hurdle a three-one success was recorded against Romania with Ivor BAN the mainstay of the victory. Earlier at the semi-final stage Ivor Ban and Jakov JAKELIC had accounted for the Qatari duo of Abdulaziz Al-ABDULLA and Nawaf Al-MALKI by three matches to nil.
