James Smith and Sam Kwan reached the main draw at the Italian Junior & Cadet Open in Lignano.
Kwan won two group matches out of three, while Smith went through second in a three-man group to get into the last 64.
Smith then gave 13th seed Vitor Amorim of Portugal a mighty battle, eventually going down 11-9 in the deciding seventh set. Meanwhile, Kwan was beaten in five by 12th seed Fanbo Meng of Germany.
Matthew Daish and Shayan Siraj went out in the group stage, though Daish picked up a superb comeback win from 2-0 down against Danon Soh of Singapore, winning 11-9 in the decider, while Siraj was just edged out by the group’s top seed Daniel Orac, 11-8 in the fifth.
In the doubles, Kwan & Daish were involved in another close match, coming out on the right side of a 12-10 scoreline in the fifth against French opponents.
It led to another meeting in the last 32 for Kwan and Meng, who was partnered by compatriot Jannik Xu, and it was a 3-0 win for the 12th-seeded German pair.
Results
Junior Boys’ Singles
Qualifying Group 1
Tiago Li (POR) bt James Smith 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-7)
Smith bt Florian Fenyvesi (SRB) 3-1 (12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4)
Group 6
Gabriele Piciulin (ITA) bt Matthew Daish 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-5)
Daish bt Danon Soh (SGP) 3-2 (12-14, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9)
Elias Hardmeier (SUI) bt Daish 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8)
Group 10
Daniel Orac (SVK) bt Shayan Siraj 3-2 (8-11, 11-6, 15-13, 8-11, 11-8)
Siraj bt Gerasimos Chatzilygeroudis 3-1 (12-10, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9)
Andrea Puppo (ITA) bt Siraj 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-9)
Group 20
Sam Kwan bt Mattias Mongiusti (SMR) 3-0 (11-2, 11-7, 11-5)
Adrien Rassenfosse (BEL) bt Kwan 3-1 (11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9)
Kwan bt Nicholas Chong (SGP) 3-1 (14-12, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5)
Round of 64
Vitor Amorim (POR) bt Smith 4-3 (8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-3, 12-10, 10-12, 11-9)
Fanbo Meng (GER) bt Kwan 4-1 (11-5, 11-5, 11-4, 11-13, 11-4)
Junior Boys’ Doubles
Round of 64
David Molnar & Norbert Terek (HUN) bt Shayan Siraj & James Smith 3-1 (11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10)
Sam Kwan & Matthew Daish bt Guillaume Alcayde & Matteo Orsini (FRA) 3-2 (11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 3-11, 12-10)
Round of 32
Fanbo Meng & Jannik Xu (GER) bt Kwan & Daish 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-4)