Korea, Ukraine shine at Bayreuth Open

Kim Young Gun and Maxym Nikolenko proved their worth at the tables in Bayreuth, Germany last week. 04 Jun 2013
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Peter Rosenmeier from Denmark plays at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

Denmark's Paralympic table tennis champion Peter Rosenmeier

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By Aryssah Stankevitsch | For the IPC

Heavy favourite Peter Rosenmeier of Denmark won his class 6 singles event, but also partnered with Great Britain’s David Wetherill for gold in the team event.

In competition with 300 players from 42 nations, seven participants from the 2013 Bayreuth Para-Table Tennis Open in Germany stood out, with some jewels dangling from their necks by the tournament’s end on Sunday (2 June).

Korea’s class 4 singles champion, Kim Young Gun, with the help of trio members Kim Jung Gil and Choi Il Sang, also took home a team gold, as did the Ukrainian team of Mykhavlo Popov and Maxym Nikolenko (who won class 7 singles).

Heavy favourite Peter Rosenmeier of Denmark won his class 6 singles event, but also partnered with Great Britain’s David Wetherill for gold in the team event.

On the women’s side, Ukraine’s Natalya Kosmina captured gold in class 11 singles, and paired with Russia’s Anzelika Kasacheva for first in doubles as well.

Country partnerships also proved successful for the women: Sweden’s Anna Carin Ahlquist and Ingela Lundback were champions in class 3 and class 5, respectively, and went onto to win gold in teams, too. Ahlquist is currently ranked first in the world and was the Paralympic champion at London 2012.

The trio of Sandra Mikolaschek, Joyce Oliveira, and Susan Gilroy also were team champions, with the latter winning gold in her singles category. Gilroy was ranked seventh in the world, and surprisingly beat Jung Ji Nam in the final (while also surpassing teammate Joyce Oliveira in the semi-finals).

Thomas Schmidberger of Viechtach didn’t have far too travel—he’s currently studying economics in Bayreuth. Schmidberger was ranked second in class 3, but defeated Argentina’s Gonzalo Acosta and France’s Julien Bochereau to finish first.

Burkhardt’s teammates Bianca Neubig and Olga Schneider did not qualify in their women’s team classes; they finished third behind Great Britain’s Jane Campbell and Sara Head, and the trio of Isabella Lafaye Marziou, Florence Sireau Gossiaux, and Cenevieve Clot of France.

The next major event in the sport will be the Korean Para-Table Tennis Open, which takes place from 29-31 July in Icheon, Korea.