World Championships | 6 Dec 2016

JORGIC and LUPULESKU keep Europen flag high in Mixed Doubles

Sun International 2016 World Junior Championships

 

The Mixed Doubles medalists are decided and the only pairings from Europe is Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC and Serbia’s Izabela LUPULESKU. Tonight they will play in the semifinals against Yuki MATSUYAMA and Hina HAYATA of Japan at the Sun International 2016 World Junior Championships in Cape Town, South Africa.

 

The no.10 seeds, they beat Romania’s Cristian PLETEA and Adina DIACONU, the no.7 seeds, in round three by the very narrowest of margins (5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9), before ousting Hong Kong’s NG Pak Nam and MAK Tze Wing, the no.14 seeds in the quarter-finals. A second full distance contest was the outcome as the eventual victors, after winning the first three games withstood a spirited recovery (13-11, 12-10, 14-12, 11-13, 7-11, 2-11, 11-6).

 

“It was not easy. We knew that we have to fight hard to achieve our goal. It is first time that we play together. In this venue we had our first training together, but it proved immediately that we are good combination. I stay close to the table and use a lot of rotation in my game, whilst Darko stays out from the table and finishes the points,” explained LUPULESKU.

 

The win against Romania’s pairings was the turning point.

 

“We were 2:7 down in the fifth game, but we recovered. We kept our spirit high until the end.”

 

CHO Seungmin and KIM Jiho Korea Republic beat top seeds Tomokazu HARIMOTO and Miu HIRANO of Japan. They will meet China’s XU Haidong and YUAN. China’s representatives overcame CHO Daeseong and KIM Youjin of Korea.