The Russian White nights tournament has come to an end. New winners are crowned and new results are achieved. That meant for Rodion Alimov and Alina Daveltova (Russia) just doing what was expected from them.
Alimov and Davletova were definitely the favorites of this tournament, and not just because they are from Russia. They did not face that much pressure from their opponents. Only in the second round they had to give away a game against new Finnish pair Kaisti/Suutarinen.
The Russians faced Singaporian pair Guang Liang Jason Wong and Putri Sari Dewi Citra in the final. Also this match was no different than the previous matches of the Russians.
It came a little close in the second game, but with 21-14 and 21-19 Alimov and Davletova were clearly better. Alimov and Davletova full filled their seeding positions and the tournament win was a fact.
Read: Russia's Alina Davletova is top seed in mixed and women's doubles.
Hard fought defend
Pablo Abian (Spain) won the men’s singles of last year’s edition of White nights. Also this year he was the favorite to win the tournament
However other than the Russian pair, Abian (Spain) had a hard time defending his title. Despite the three over- an-hour matches, Abian was still standing on Sunday.
He faced the always though opponent Ajay Jayaram (India) and after his first game, it seemed that all energy was gone, because of the previous rounds. Then Abian got back up and fought all the way through the second and third game and can call himself the winner of White nights another time.
Read: Brice Leverdez: Top 20 is a step forward for me
New generation
The last final of the day was an all-German final between Bjarne Geiss/Jan Colin Völker and Johannes Pistorius/Daniel Hess. This final was definitely a thriller of 57 minutes!
This might also be a good look in the future as these young gentlemen are barely 20. Germany currently has two good men’s doubles pair running at international tournaments and these guys might follow them up.
As for the match it were Geiss and Völker who pulled the longest straw. Keep your eyes open for these names as we might hear more from them in the future!
Read: Russia storm to glory at the Russian Junior White Nights
An overview of the finals
Mixed doubles
Rodion Alimov/Alina Davletova (Russia) beat Guang Liang Jason Wong/Putri Sari Dewi Citra (Singapore): 21-14 21-19
Men’s singles
Pablo Abian (Spain) beat Ajay Jayaram (India): 11-21 21-16 21-17
Men’s doubles
Bjarne Geiss/Jan Colin Völker (Germany) beat Johannes Pistorius/Daniel Hess (Germany): 16-21 24-22 21-18
Women’s singles
Deng Joy Xuan (Hong Kong China) beat Yeo Jia Min (Singapore): 21-7 13-21 21-17
Women’s doubles
Akane Araki/Riko Imai (Japan) beat Asumi Kugo/ Megumi Yokoyama (Japan): 21-18 21-12
Find all the results of White nights 2018 here