Victor Liu and Grace Yang Upset Seeding, Cadet Champions in Markham

Courtesy of ITTF

Upsetting the order of merit, the United States duo of Victor Liu and Grace Yang emerged as the respective winners of the Cadet Boys’ Singles and Cadet Girls’ Singles titles at the Butterfly 2014 Canadian Junior and Cadet Open in Markham on the afternoon of Thursday May 14th.

At the final hurdle Grace Yang, the no.2 seed, accounted for compatriot, Amy Wang, the top seed ( 11-1, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6), before Victor Liu emulated the efforts of his colleague in the Cadet Boys’ Singles final.

Likewise, he beat the no.1 seed, with the loss of just one game; occupying the no.3 seeded position, he ended the aspirations of Canada’s Jeremy Hazin (12-10, 11-9, 5-11, 11-7).

First to Attack
“At the start of the match I made sure that I was the first to attack with heavy topspin”, explained Grace Yang. “In the past I’ve lost to Amy more times than I have beaten her but I felt quite confident today before the match, I played Amy in the qualification tournament and won.”

Prior to the start of the Butterfly 2015 Canadian Junior and Cadet Open, a qualification tournament for the ITTF Cadet Challenge to be staged later this year, had been organized.

“I think the reason I lost the third game was that I became a little nervous”, added Grace Yang. “In the fourth game I calmed down.”

Earlier Rounds
Earlier at the quarterfinal stage Grace Yang had beaten Angie Tan (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) and one round later, Rachel Sung (11-6, 11-6, 11-9), both from the United States; while Amy Wang had accounted for Hungary’s Anita Drabant in the round of the last eight (11-6, 11-8, 11-9) and colleague, Ishana Deb, the no.3 seed, in the penultimate round (11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5).

The medalists in the Cadet Girls’ Singles event (left to right) Amy Wang, Grace Yang and Rachel Sung
Photo By: Thorsten Gohl

Close Semi-Final Duel
Meanwhile, in the latter stages Victor Liu had overcome Jonathan Li in the quarterfinals, before causing a semi-final upset by ending the progress of Sharon Alguetti, the no.2 seed, by the very narrowest of margins.

He emerged successful in a close five games encounter (8-11, 11-8, 10-12, 12-10, 11-9).

“I have good record against Jeremy, so I was not too nervous before the match”, explained Victor Liu. “I know the way he plays and today I felt secure with my first attack.”

Only Non-American
In the counterpart half of the draw; in the latter stages, Jeremy Hazin, the only Canadian to reach the quarterfinals, beat Nicholas Tio (12-10, 11-2, 8-11, 11-13, 11-8) prior to overcoming Felix Gao (11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7) to reserve his place in the final.