(by Steve Hopkins)

USA’s Lily Zhang entered the Women’s Singles draw at the WTT Feeder Biella as the third seed.  The top two seeds fell early – with top seed Egypt’s Hana Goda falling to Ukraine’s Margaryta Pesotska in the Round of 32, and Manika Batra of India losing to Katarzyna Wegrzyn of Poland in the Quarterfinals.

Zhang logged five wins on the way to the Final.  She defeated Ozge Yilmaz of Turkey then Tania Plaian of Romania, Singeorzan (Romania), Zarif (France), and a dominant 3-0 win over Ukraine’s Margaryta Pesotska in the Semis.  In the Final, Spain’s Maria Xiao pulled out a 12-10 win in the opening game, the two split the next two games – and another tight, 11-8 win went Xiao’s way to secure the victory.  Lily Zhang secures second place – one of the highest finishes ever secured by an American player in a WTT event.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.