Finalists confirmed for BETARD WSF World Masters Championships
This article first appeared on wsfworldmasters.com
After Friday’s semifinals we now know which players will play for the BETARD WSF World Masters Championships 2022 titles.
In the day’s first encounter on the all-glass court, Adrian Hansen [3/4] again carried the RSA flag high as he advanced to the M50+ final after beating Christian Borgvall [5/8] of Sweden in five games. Hansen will face top seed and former World number #4, Derek Ryan for the title. The Irish favourite won yet another match – this time against Guyana’s Richard Chin – without dropping a game.
Another RSA player who needed all 5 games to make it to the final was Christo Potgieter [2/2] who came back from 2:1 down against Ukraine’s Valerii Fedoruk [3/4]. The quick-around-the-court Potgieter got a much better start in the fifth game and staved off Fedoruk’s comeback attempt. Potgieter might need all that speed and more when he plays Dutchman Piedro Schweertman [1/2], who comfortably beat Pakistan’s Karamatullah Khan [5/8] today, recording his fifth match in a row without dropping a game.
In the W45+ Finland’s Lotta Vuorela continues her great run and is now in the final after winning a close match against Melanie Kreisel [5/8] of Germany. Vuorela will play top seed Samantha Herbert [1/2] of RSA.
“It felt strange at the beginning because I got a walkover in the previous round and hadn’t played a match since Tuesday. After a while I managed to relax, find better length and play my game,” Vuorela commented on her win.
In the W60+ the top seeds, England’s Mandy Akin [1/2] and Finland’s Sari Niemisto [2/2] set up their final meeting after beating Julie Multamaki of Canada and Jill Campion of Wales respectively.
England’s Adrian Wright and USA’s Michael Gough will battle it out for M80+ gold on Saturday as they both won their first two 1-4 group matches. Bertil Walli of Finland and Tom Slattery of Australia will be each looking for their first win of this stage and a bronze medal that will come with it.
There’s a similar story in the W75+, where England’s Ann Manley [1/2] and RSA’s Margaret Hunt-Kemp [2/2] both have four wins in the group and play their last match against each other to see who will take home the first place.
In the M40+ both semis saw the seeds Gibraltar’s Ivan Flores Vela [1/2] and Germany’s Heiko Schwarzer [2/2] go through unscathed with straight game wins. Neither of them have lost a game in the tournament and their matchup promises to be the most evenly matched.
Things were more complicated in the W35+ medal group after Olga Kolarova [3/4] beat RSA’s Siyoli Waters [2/2]. The five-time Czech National Champion Kolarova was already close to upsetting top seed Nicolette Fernandes [1/2] on Thursday, but the Guyanian player came back from 2:1 and 9-3 down. On Friday, however, Kolavora was clearly the better player and her win leaves the group wide open. If Waters can beat Fernandes tomorrow, all three players will have one win.
“I think Siyoli was amazing today. When you give her space, she’s so dangerous on the attack so I just tried to close the court down and it worked. That was my last match of the tournament. All I can do now is watch and see what happens,” Kolarova said after her win.
The final day of the World Masters 2022 starts at 10:00 AM (GMT+2) on all courts besides the all-glass court where the first final will begin at 10:30.
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