Team JOOLA had a highly successful run at the 2022 WTT Feeder Fort Lauderdale event at the Broward Table Tennis Club in Florida, USA. Of the 5 podium events, JOOLA pro players took home 4 of the titles – the Women’s Singles, Women’s Doubles, Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Amy Wang took home the big crown with her first WTT Singles Championship.
The Mixed Doubles was the first event to conclude, with the experienced pairing of Lubomir Pistej and Barbora Balazova sweeping the field of competitors to add another title to their stellar careers.
Pistej followed up on the success by also taking the Men’s Doubles crown with countryman Jakub Zelinka, though they had to climb their way back from a 2-1 deficit in their semifinal, and the final stage saw the first two games go to deuce. Close encounters, but a second gold for Pistej in the event.
Lily Zhang and Barbora Balazova paired together again following their debut earlier in the year, where they reached the WTT Contender Muscat final together. The team chemistry held as they overcame Amy Wang and Rachel Sung in a very close 5 game clash.
The Women’s Singles was the star event for Team JOOLA with a number of players competing. Kayla Goodwin exited in the Round of 32 in 6 games to Team JOOLA’s newest member – Reeth Tennison of India. Reeth, along with Tatiana Kukulkova, both made it through to the Quarterfinal Stage before being eliminated by Lily Zhang and Barbora Balazova respectively.
Amy Wang was the star of the show, clinching one of the most closely contended matches of the competition. Slow off the mark and trailing by 2 games, Wang was able to overcome second seed Dina Meshref in the full 7 game span. Under all the pressure she remained as cool and collected as ever in true Amy Wang fashion.
The semifinals saw Team JOOLA advance with Lily Zhang defeating Spain’s Maria Xiao and Amy Wang beating Barbora Balazova.
Zhang sailed through the first three games before Xiao pulled back some momentum, the three time US Olympian regained her foothold on the match in the 6th game and brought it home.
Into the final and everything was on the line for both players.
Wang was devastating on serve return and counters in the rally. While Zhang made her steady openings and looked for quick placements, Wang snapped over the top of the ball – adding a great deal of acceleration and often finding exceptional corner placement.
The games were immensely close as Zhang held small leads, but Amy Wang powered back each time. Wang would win the match in four straight games and claim her first WTT event crown, after playing an outstanding match. Despite the defeat, a humble Lily Zhang smiled brightly in the finalist position on the podium after the match.
A huge congratulations to our JOOLA players for their brilliant results and for really dominating proceedings at this WTT Feeder event!
