By Igor Leshin
The Belarusian sportswoman could not match Germany’s Sabine Winter in the final, losing 1:4. But on the way to this crucial match, Alexandra Privalova comfortably beat Swede Linda Bergstrцm and Belarusian Yelena Dubkova with scores of 4:0, and in the quarterfinal she defeated Eun Hee Lee from South Korea 4:3 in a closely fought match. In the semi-final Alexandra faced Linda Kremers from the Netherlands, comfortably overcoming her opponent 4:2.
In the men’s singles, the Belarusian national team’s veteran, Yevgeny Shchetinin was successful in all the preliminary rounds, defeating the Hungarian Martin Palatinus, Russians Taras Merzilkin and Artur Grigoriev, and also the Bosnian Admir Duranspahic with scores of 4:0. In a dramatic semi-final duel the 43 year old Belarusian fought head-to-head with 32 year old Japanese Kaii Yoshida, but eventually lost 3:4 in a tight 7-set match. Shchetinin won bronze for his valiant efforts, and his opponent went on to win the tournament, comprehensively defeating his 16 year old compatriot Kohei Sambe 4:0.
However, the loser of the adult final became the winner in the youth tournament, beating another Japanese sportsman Yuto Higashi — 4:2. The Korean Eun Hee Lee, beaten by Privalova in the quarters, was the best in the female competition and defeated the Japanese player Eku So 4:3.
