Surprise outcomes dominated the scene, as the men’s and women’s singles events at the Czech Para Open 2022 concluded in Ostrava on Friday 24th June.

Arguably the biggest upset was caused by the host nation’s Filip Nachazel, he emerged the men’s singles class 4 winner.

In the final he beat Slovakia’s Peter Mihalik (7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-3), having one round earlier ousted Indonesia’s Adyos Astan (11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 14-12), the player the previous day who had ended the progress of Boris Travincek, like Peter Mihalik from Slovakia (11-2, 11-8, 6-11, 9-11, 11-8).

At the other end of the scale, the least unexpected accrued in women’s singles class 5; Alexandra Saint Pierre of France continued her quite incredible run.

A debut in 2021 when she won in France, soon after she added to her gold collection on the Costa Brava; this year she repeated the success before emerging victorious in Slovenia.

The good form continued in Ostrava; in a group administered women’s singles class 5 event, she remained unbeaten, notably in her concluding match overcoming Korea Republic’s Jung Younga, the top seed (11-8, 11-7, 13-11).

Seizing Opportunity

Titles against the odds, in the men’s singles events, taking the advantage of potential top seeded adversaries having departed earlier in proceedings, Italy’s Federico Falco, Ukraine’s Vasyl Petruniv, Sweden’s David Olsson and Great Britain’s Josh Stacey all seized the opportunities presented.

At the final hurdle Federico Falco beat Korea Republic’s Kim Hakjin to win class 1 (11-7, 12-14, 12-10, 11-3); at the same stage Vasyl Petruniv overcame Frenchman Sylvain Noel (11-9, 11-8, 11-7).

Likewise, in class 5, David Olsson secured the top prize at the expense of Sam Roelofs from the Netherlands (7-11, 11-7, 14-12, 11-7); Josh Stacey ended the hopes of Spain’s Ander Cepas (4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8) on what proved a good day for Great Britain.

Justifying their top seeded positions, Will Bayley won men’s singles class 7; Sue Bailey prevailed in women’s singles class 4.

Surprise Winners

Gold for Sue Bailey as predicted; in the counterpart women’s singles events, additional to Alexandra Saint Pierre, the titles secured by Italy’s Carlotta Ragazzini, Norway’s Nora Korneliussen and Turkey’s Ebru Acer were contrary to predictions.

Competing in class 2-3, Carlotta Ragazzini accounted for Slovakia’s Alena Kanova, the top seed, at the final hurdle (11-5, 11-8, 11-6); similarly, Nora Korneliussen secured the class 7 title at the expense of the top seed.

Administered on a group formula, Nora Korneliussen overcame Sweden’s Smilla Sand in her concluding contest (16-14, 12-10, 13-11).

Notable performances, against the odds it was the same for Ebru Acer in class 11. In the final she beat Poland’s Krystina Lysiak 911-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4), the winner the previous day in opposition to Ukraine’s Natalya Kosmina, the top seed 911-9, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9).

Favourites Prevail

Disappointment for favourites but success for the top seeds did just outweighed the upsets.

In the men’s singles, additional to Will Bayley, Frenchmen Fabien Lamirault (class 2) and Antoine Zhao (class 11) emerged victorious, as did Denmark’s Peter Rosenmeier (class 6), Ukraine’s Viktor Didukh (class 8) and Poland’s Patryk Chojnowski (class 10).

Similarly, in the women’s events, Finland’s Aino Tapola (class 1) emulated the efforts of Sue Bailey, a feat achieved by Ukraine’s Maryna Lytovchenko (class 6) and Japan’s Yuri Tomono (class 8) in addition to the Polish duo of Karolina Pek (class 9) and Natalya Partyka (class 10).

Attention now turns to the men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles events; play concludes on Saturday 25th June.