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

Lubomir Jancarik was living a dream. At the WTT Star Contender here, the 38-year-old produced his best-ever career performance to win the men’s singles crown, defeating Thibault Poret of France in six gruelling games in the men’s singles final at the TNPESU here on Sunday.

Having reached the final of the Kuwait Open way back in 2008, he hadn’t done anything of note since. Relentlessly toiling on the tour and playing hard, the Czech’s passion and work ethic had been absolutely praiseworthy.

Poret was no pushover. The 25-year-old, ranked 35 in the world, took his chances and pushed the Czech hard. Trailing by one game to two, the Frenchman played the short game exceptionally well and took a 7-3 lead in the fourth, but went on to lose it. That, perhaps, was the turning point.

“The most difficult part was to control my power because I have so much. If I could control it well, it’s going to be a good ball on the table with good quality,” the 174-ranked Czech said.

Japan has six women players in the world’s top 20. Of the lot, Satsuki Odo is the second youngest after teenage sensation Miwa Harimoto. As the top seed, Odo, ranked 14 in the world, underlined her growing stature on the international stage by clinching the women’s singles title with a commanding straight-game victory over compatriot Miu Hirano in the women’s singles final.

The 21-year-old delivered a remarkably dominant campaign. She dropped just two games across the entire tournament — conceding one game each to Anna Hursey in the round of 16 and Cheng I-Ching in the semifinals.

Possessing a classical game with all the strokes a top player can ask for, Odo was always a notch above Hirano in all the games. If at all there was a fight, it was in the third game.

Hirano, a compact player, did trouble the top seed with excellent return of serves and through relentless counter-attacks. But the top seed quickly seized control in the fourth 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.