It was a memorable week for Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as the 25-year old collected his first title since June of last year by winning the men’s singles at the PolishInternational in Bierun.
Despite losing two match points in the process, Schaefer produced a dominant performance in the deciding set to win the title 21-14,20-22, 21-9 over Indian opponent Harsheel Dani.
See also: 2017 Polish International Recap
Double defeat for Polish hopefuls
It was a tough final session for the home crowd, as they saw two of their own lose in finals.
In the mixed doubles, Pawel Smilowski and Magdalena Swierczynska fell in three sets to top seeds Jakub Bitman and Alzbeta Basova from the Czech Republic 21-17, 12-21, 21-14.
The first set saw both looks show their intentions early.But it was the top seeded Czech pair that held their nerve when it counted, and the first set was theirs.
However, Smilowski and Swierczynska responded well to comfortably take the second set with the hope of producing a finish that the fans were hoping for.
But it was the Czech’s that made a good start in the deciding set and they never looked back and eventually secured the third set and the title was theirs.
Elsewhere, there was further disappointment for the home crowd. It began with a comfortably defeat for men’s doubles top seeds MiloszBochat and Adam Cwalina who were defeat 21-13, 21-16 to Chinese Taipei’s LinShang Kai and Tseng Min Hao.
After what has been their best tournament of the year, the pressure was still on Bochat and Cwalina to complete a memorable weekend on home soil/ Sadly, their Asian opponents moved ahead early on in both sets and never looked like they would lose that lead. In the end, it was a strong and solid performance to take the crown.
See also: Bochat and Cwalina aiming for home glory
The first final of the day saw Denmark’s Emilie Furbo and Trine Villadsen lose their second final of 2018, as they fell in two close sets to Japan’s Mamiko Ishibashi and Mirai Shinoda 22-20, 21-16.
After recovering from a 10-6 deficit to taking a 15-12 lead, Furbo and Villadsen had two chances to take the first set. But it was their Japanese opponents that snatched it.
The second set saw Ishibashi and Shinoda gradually pull away early on and maintain a healthy gap to secure the title.
For a full list of the draws and results, click here.