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The final standings in the doubles category were much more unexpected, with 16 pairs divided into four equal groups. Similar to the singles category, the participants played two games in their quartets, after which the teams that finished last in their groups left the tournament, while the remaining participants continued to fight for the title in knockout matches.
Unlike the singles category, where Evgeniy Zinkovsky’s champion path was not the most difficult, the future winners of the Moldovan Championship SEMSEO cup gold medals in doubles began… with four defeats in a row in the first four matches! It seemed that Evgeniy Nozhak and Maxim Chilaru were about to join the other losers of the group stage and go home, but having won the two remaining games in Group A with the necessary large score, these guys literally jumped on the footboard of the train leaving on the playoff route at the last moment.
The future champions also had a hard time in the quarterfinals, where they faced the winners of Group B – Elena Krivoruchko and Andrei Vesterly. In the first two sets, the opponents exchanged victories with a mirror score of 7:2, 2:7. The fate of the ticket to the semifinals was decided in the final third set, which ended with the victory of Nozhak and Kilaru – 7:3. Later, having found their game, Evgeny and Maxim confidently dealt with the winners of Group C Igor Gratie and Valery Bodarev in the semifinals – 3:0 (7:4, 7:3, 7:5).
In the decisive match, Ekaterina Nesterenko and Alexander Kretsu, whose path to the grand final was much easier, also claimed gold medals. Ekaterina and Andrey won their group quite confidently, after which they easily crushed their opponents on the way to the grand final. In the ¼ finals, this duet dealt with Maxim Pogrebnichenko and Anton Kovalsky – 2:0 (7:0, 7:1), after which Dmitry Venger and Stanislav Lukyanenko were defeated with the same score.
However, Nesterenko and Kretsu failed to continue their winning streak and, having lost with a score of 1:3 (2:7, 7:5, 3:7, 5:7), the main favorites of the tournament were content with second place. Bronze medals were won by Ilya Dragan and Angela Rajetski, who added this success to the silver in singles. Fourth place went to Igor Gratie and Valery Bodarev. The latter repeated his achievement in pairs, which he had achieved earlier in singles. Kirill Semenov and Mircea Boshtovoy finished in fifth place, and Dmitry Venger and Stanislav Lukyanenko closed out the top six.
At the traditional awards ceremony, the winners in singles and doubles received commemorative medals and diplomas from the Federation of Sports Kicker of Moldova, and the winners were awarded cups. During the break between the decisive games, a prize lottery was held among all the tournament participants and those present in the hall from one of the tournament sponsors and FSCM partner – the Spanish manufacturer of sports equipment Kelme. The lucky ones who received gift products from one of the best European brands were determined by blind drawing.
