England Cadet Girls claimed a brilliant fifth-place finish at the European Youth Championships in Zagreb.
Charlotte Bardsley won both her matches as England twice came from behind to claim a 3-2 victory over Germany to guarantee a top-six finish, with Denise Payet contributing the other win in the fourth match.
Mollie Patterson then joined Payet in the play-off for fifth and sixth against Hungary, with England again winning 3-2. The doubles proved the key as Payet & Patterson came from 2-1 down to seal it 13-11 in the fifth.
The players believe team-work and support were the keys to their success, having started the competition in the second tier.
Bardsley said: “The general aim was to try and top the group and get in the top division. Pulling together as a team helped us to fight through tough matches.”
Patterson added: “At the start we were just trying to play at our best, have good team spirit and gain promotion. A loud bench with good support helped our players against other strong countries”
Meanwhile, the Junior Boys and Junior Girls both ended up in 17th position.
The boys’ line-up of Tom Jarvis, Luke Savill and Alex Ramsden enjoyed two deciding-match victories, coming from 2-1 down to beat Switzerland and overturning a 2-0 deficit against Israel to win 3-2 – four of the five individual matches going the distance.
It put them into the play-offs for positions 17-20, and another 3-2 victory over Sweden followed as Savill won the decider. They finally clinched 17th thanks to a far-from-routine 3-0 win over Austria.
The Junior Girls’ team of Tin-Tin Ho, Emily Bolton and Kate Cheer started by beating Netherlands 3-1, with both Cheer and Ho winning matches 12-10 in the fifth. They faced Czech Republic for 17th place and came out on top 3-1 as Ho won two matches and Cheer one.
The Cadet Boys (James Smith, Harry Dai, Ethan Walsh) finished 22nd after beating Serbia and then losing to the Czech Republic today.
The individual events start on Wednesday.
Cadet Girls’ Team
Positions 1-8
Slovenia 3 England 0
Katarina Strazar bt Charlotte Bardsley 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-6)
Lea Paulin bt Denise Payet 3-0 (11-3, 11-9, 11-4)
Strazar & Paulin bt Payet & Bardsley 3-1 (11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11)
Positions 5-8
England 3 Germany 2
Franziska Schreiner bt Payet 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-7)
Bardsley bt Laura Tiefenbrunner 3-2 (11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 3-11, 11-8)
Tiefenbrunner & Sophia Klee bt Payet & Bardsley 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 12-10)
Payet bt Tiefenbrunner 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10)
Bardsley bt Schreiner 3-1 (11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8)
Positions 5-6
England 3 Hungary 2
Payet bt Fanni Harasztovich 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-7)
Helga Dari bt Mollie Patterson 3-2 (10-12, 11-5, 11-5, 10-12, 11-9)
Payet & Patterson bt Harasztovich & Marta Nagypal 3-2 (11-6, 3-11, 6-11, 11-4, 13-11)
Harasztovich bt Patterson 3-2 (4-11, 12-10, 13-15, 11-6, 11-2)
Payet bt Dari 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-5)
Junior Boys’ Team
Group M
England 3 Switzerland 2
Lars Posch bt Luke Savill 3-2 (11-7, 14-12, 9-11, 10-12, 16-14)
Tom Jarvis bt Dorian Girod 3-1 (12-10, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4)
Cedric Tschanz bt Alex Ramsden 3-1 (12-10, 16-14, 6-11, 11-4)
Jarvis bt Posch 3-1 (11-5, 11-4, 10-12, 11-5)
Savill bt Girod 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 12-10)
England 3 Israel 2
Mathan Simon bt Jarvis 3-2 (11-5, 6-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9)
Aviv Ben-Ari bt Savill 3-2 (5-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9)
Ramsden bt Ron Dimant 3-1 (11-4, 11-13, 14-12, 11-8)
Jarvis bt Ben-Ari 3-2 (14-12, 11-8, 6-11, 10-12, 11-7)
Savill bt Simon 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4)
Positions 17-20
England 3 Sweden 2
Simon Soderlund bt Savill 3-1 (4-11, 11-5, 11-3, 13-11)
Jarvis bt Vilmer Georgsson 3-2 (11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8)
Ramsden bt Per Sandstrom 3-2 (7-11, 11-3, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8)
Soderlund bt Jarvis 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-4)
Savill bt Georgsson 3-1 (9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-8)
Positions 17-18
England 3 Austria 0
Jarvis bt Andreas Levenko 3-1 (13-11, 12-14, 11-9, 17-15)
Savill bt Thomas Grinninger 3-2 (11-8, 12-14, 11-9, 2-11, 11-6)
Ramsden bt Michael Trink 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-5)
Junior Girls’ Team
Group L
England 3 Italy 0
Tin-Tin Ho bt Marcella Delasa 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-7)
Emily Bolton bt Veronica Mosconi 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-3)
Kate Cheer bt Simona Ettari 3-2 (11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 7-11, 11-2)
Positions 17-20
England 3 Netherlands 1
Ho bt Vera van Boheemen 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 13-11)
Angelique Gertenbach bt Bolton 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-6)
Cheer bt Yoeke Gunsing 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-6, 10-12, 12-10)
Ho bt Gertenbach 3-2 (9-11, 11-4, 11-13, 11-9, 12-10)
Positions 17-18
England 3 Czech Republic 1
Ho bt Stanislava Sleazakova 3-1 (11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5)
Katerina Cechova bt Bolton 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-2)
Cheer bt Marketa Sevcikova 3-0 (11-9, 12-10, 12-10)
Ho bt Cechova 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9)
Cadet Boys’ Team
Austria 3 England 0
Maciej Kolodziejczyk bt James Smith 3-1 (11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3)
Martin Gutschi bt Harry Dai 3-2 (5-11, 13-15, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9)
Kolodziejczyk & Jonas Promberger bt Dai & Ethan Walsh 3-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9)
Positions 21-24
England 3 Serbia 0
Walsh bt Jovan Jockov 3-1 (15-13, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8)
Dai bt Akos Benko 3-1 (5-11, 11-7, 16-14, 11-7)
Walsh & Dai bt Benko & Ognjen Stosic 3-2 (9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6)
Positions 21-22
Czech Republic 3 England 0
Jan Valenta bt Ethan Walsh 3-1 (11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 11-5)
Matej Siwiec bt Smith 3-2 (10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-13, 11-7)
Valenta & Siwiec bt Dai & Walsh 3-2 (8-11, 11-3, 11-4, 5-11, 11-5)