WTT STAR CONTENDER | Jancarik weathers Poret’s challenge for men’s crown

Lubomir Jancarik was surviving a dream. At the WTT Star Contender here, the 38-year-old produced his best-ever vocation show to triumph the men’s singles crown, defeating Thibault Poret of France successful six gruelling games successful the men’s singles last astatine the TNPESU present connected Sunday.

Having reached the last of the Kuwait Open mode backmost successful 2008, helium hadn’t done thing of enactment since. Relentlessly toiling connected the circuit and playing hard, the Czech’s passionateness and enactment ethic had been perfectly praiseworthy.

Poret was nary pushover. The 25-year-old, ranked 35 successful the world, took his chances and pushed the Czech hard. Trailing by 1 crippled to two, the Frenchman played the abbreviated crippled exceptionally good and took a 7-3 pb successful the fourth, but went connected to suffer it. That, perhaps, was the turning point.

“The astir hard portion was to power my powerfulness due to the fact that I person truthful much. If I could power it well, it’s going to beryllium a bully shot connected the array with bully quality,” the 174-ranked Czech said.

Japan has six women players successful the world’s apical 20. Of the lot, Satsuki Odo is the 2nd youngest aft teenage sensation Miwa Harimoto. As the apical seed, Odo, ranked 14 successful the world, underlined her increasing stature connected the planetary signifier by clinching the women’s singles rubric with a commanding straight-game triumph implicit compatriot Miu Hirano successful the women’s singles final.

The 21-year-old delivered a remarkably ascendant campaign. She dropped conscionable 2 games crossed the full tourney — conceding 1 crippled each to Anna Hursey successful the circular of 16 and Cheng I-Ching successful the semifinals.

Possessing a classical crippled with each the strokes a apical subordinate tin inquire for, Odo was ever a notch supra Hirano successful each the games. If astatine each determination was a fight, it was successful the 3rd game.

Hirano, a compact player, did occupation the apical effect with fantabulous instrumentality of serves and done relentless counter-attacks. But the apical effect rapidly seized power successful the 4th game.

The results: Men: Final: Lubomir Jancarik (Cze) bt Thibault Poret (Fra) 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8. Semifinals: Poret bt Flavien Coton (Fra) 11-6, 11-2, 13-11; Jancarik bt Park Ganghyeon (Kor) 13-15, 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9.

Women: Final: Satsuki Odo (Jpn) bt Miu Hirano (Jpn) bt 11-2, 11-7, 13-11, 11-7. Semifinals: Hirano bt Sakura Yokoi (Jpn) 12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9; Odo bt Cheng I-Ching (Tpe) 11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5.

Mixed doubles: Final: Eduard Ionescu & Bernadette Szocs (Rou) bt Harmeet Desai & Yasashwini Ghorpade 11-9, 11-2, 11-8.