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Other Sports - 15. June 2016.

Four Previous Attempts, Never a Finalist, Zhenhua Dederko Surprise Oceania Winner



Present on four previous occasions but never beyond the semi-final stage, the host nation’s Zhenhua Dederko emerged as the somewhat surprise winner of the Women’s Singles event at the 2013 ITTF Oceania Cup in Melbourne on Tuesday 14th June.



A surprise not only when past performances were taken into consideration; also when the efforts of the previous day were added to the equation.

Second Place
Zhenhua Dederko had finished in second place in her initial stage group; she had been beaten by colleague, Jian Fang Lay, the top seed and defending champion (11-9, 11-6, 11-7, 11-13, 14-12).

One day later it was a very different story.

Shock Win
Melissa Tapper, also from Australia, who had likewise finished in second place in her initial phase group, losing to New Zealand’s Li Chunli (10-12, 13-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8); after recording a quarter-final win over New Zealand’s Ruofei Rao (11-9, 11-6, 11-5, 11-3), caused a major upset. 

She beat Jian Fang Lay in tense hard fought seven games encounter (13-11, 11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7).

Only Two Defeats
It was the first defeat Jian Fang Lay had suffered in the tournament since losing to Li Chunli in the final in Suva, Fiji in 2012; overall it was only her second ever defeat in what is now the sixth edition of the tournament.

The only other occasion was in the inaugural edition in 2011 when the tournament was staged in Adelaide; on that occasion she was beaten by New Zealand’s Karen Li in the final. Notably, she did not compete in 2013 in Bendigo.

Later in 2014 and last year, also in Bendigo, she emerged successful beating Li Chunli in the final on both occasions.

Opportunity
An opportunity for Zhenhua Dederko, the opportunity was seized; in the final she beat Melissa Tapper in six games to arrest the title (11-7, 13-11, 12-14, 13-15, 11-9, 11-7) and thus became the fifth ever winner, the third Australian.

Additional to sisters, Karen Li and Li Chunli, Australia’s Miao Miao had won in 2013 in Bendigo to be followed on the next two occasions by Li Chunli.

Step Forward
It was for Zhenhua Dederko, a major step forward.
She did not compete in 2015, but in 2014 reached the quarter-final stage, having in the first three editions of the tournament departed in the semi-finals.

In 2011 and 2012 she was beaten by Jian Fang Lay, in 2013 by Miao Miao and in 2014 by Li Chunli; in 2016 she claimed the top prize, a place in the Women’s World Cup was reserved.

Third Place
Third place went to Jian Fang Lay; she accounted for Li Chunli in six games in the play-off contest (4-11, 11-2, 14-12, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6).





Day Two: Titles decided at ITTF Oceania Cup in Melbourne
Photos by Ivy Hla
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