Òrlova / Bozen – South Tyrol’s young athlete of the year 2018, Katharina Fink, has reached the semi-finals in the individual at the Czech Junior International in Òrlova. For the 17-year-old who was 17 last week, it is the third place on the podium in a junior world ranking tournament this year.

Fink, who is registered for the SSV Bozen and trains at the SBS Südtirol Badminton School, showed great performances. So she was able to defeat France’s greatest U17 talent Anna Tatranova in the round of 16, before she was able to bring Ukraine’s greatest young talent, Polina Buhrova, to her knees with 22:20, 20:22, 21:17 in the quarter-finals. In the semifinals, Fink failed against the Czech local hero Katerina Zuzákova with 15:21, 13:21. France and Ukraine are among the top European nations. As usual, the Czech Junior International was very well attended with participants from 14 nations.

Even in doubles, the medal was within reach. In the second round, Fink and Hamza were able to assert themselves against Zuzákova / Krpatova for the first time. They lost to the Czechs in the semi-finals of Slovenia Junior International. In the quarter-finals, Fink / Hamza won the first set against the Ukrainians Buhrova / Stoliarenko 21: 7, but then broke down. Hamza managed to win in the individual, Maja Fallaha, the third SBS player in the league, failed despite good performance in round one.

Katharina Fink is Italy’s number one both in the junior world rankings and in the Junior Circuit of Badminton Europe.

From: bba