New Territory For Croatians
Ian Marshall, Editor of Table Tennis Illustrated
Pro Tour Austrian Open, Wels
Croatia’s Andreja BAKULA and Sandra PAOVIC are the only
European pairing to reach the semi-finals of the Women’s
Doubles at the Vegeta Austrian Open in Wels; the other three
pairs are all from Asia. Top seeds GUO Yue and NIU Jianfeng,
the title favourites are joined by their Chinese compatriots
CAO Zhen and LI Xiaoxia plus Japan’s Haruna FUKUOKA and An
KONISHI.
NIU Jianfeng, through to the semi-finals of the Women's
Doubles with GUO Yue
The semi-final stage of an ITTF Pro Tour tournament is
unexplored territory for the Croatians Andreja BAKULA and
Sandra PAOVIC. The furthest they have progressed on the ITTF
Pro Tour as a pair, prior to the Vegeta Austrian Open, is the
round of the last sixteen. It is a feat they have achieved on
three occasions: in Zagreb in 2000 at the Croatian Open when
they lost to the Germans Olga NEMES and Jing TIAN-ZÖRNER, in
Magdeburg at the German Open in 2002 when they were beaten by
the Austrians LIU Jia and Judit HERCZIG and earlier in 2004 in
Warsaw at the Polish Open, when Japan’s Yuka SHIOSAKI and
MIKIE TAKAHASHI ended progress.
Both girls enjoyed successful junior careers and gained medals
at European Youth Championships. BAKULA was the runner up in
the Cadet Girls’ Singles in 1996 in Frydek-Mistek being beaten
at the final hurdle by Slovenia’s Martina SAFRAN, whilst three
years later in the same Czech town, she reached the final of
the Junior Girls’ Singles, losing to Austria’s LIU Jia.
However, she does have four European Youth Championship titles
to her credit. In 1996 she won the Cadet Girls’ Doubles with
colleague Bojana POLJAK and the Cadet Mixed Doubles with
Germany’s Dominic HALCOUR, whilst in 1999 she was a member of
the Croatian side that won the Junior Girls’ Team title and
partnered Italy’s WANG Yu to gold in the Junior Girls’
Doubles.
On the ITTF Pro Tour the furthest she has ever been in any
event is the quarter-final stage, a round she reached with
Croatia’s Eldijana AGANOVIC-BENTSEN in Cairo in 2002 at the
Egypt Open, the pair losing to the North Koreans, KIM Hyang Mi
and KIM Hyon Hui.
Meawhile, Sandra PAOVIC won a hat-trick of titles at the
European Youth Championships in Topolcany, Slovakia in 1997.
She was a member of the Croatian team who clinched the Cadet
Girls’ Team title; she won the Cadet Girls’ Singles beating
Italy’s Nicoletta STEFANOVA in the final and partnered Jiri
VRABLIK of the Czech Republic to success in the Cadet Mixed
Doubles overcoming Brice OLLIVIER and Elisabeth GLADIEUX of
France in the final.
Three years later in Bratislava she was the runner up to
Croatia’s Cornelia VAIDA in the Junior Girls’ Singles and with
Nicoletta STEFANOVA won the Junior Girls’ Doubles, whilst in
1999 she was a member of the Croatian team with BAKULA who
became Junior Girls’ Team Champions.
The Vegeta Austrian Open has seen them reach new heights; in
the semis they play the Chinese duo of CAO Zhen and LI
Xiaoxia, the winners of the ITTF Pro Tour Panasonic China Open
in September 2004, whilst in the top half of the draw GUO Yue
and NIU Jianfeng meet Japan’s Haruna FUKUOKA and An KIONISHI.
http://www.ittf.com/stories/Stories_detail.asp?Year=2004&General_Catigory=General&ID=6640
