England’s boys clinched third place at the Cadet Six Nation with two impressive victories on day two.
Having started with an emphatic 8-2 win over The Netherlands, the squad of Tom Jarvis, Luke Savill, Hugo Pang and Alex Ramsden sunk Germany 7-3 in what was effectively a third-place play-off.
The competition at Lilleshall was won by Sweden, who beat France 6-4 in the decider. In the minor placings, The Netherlands finished fifth on countback after a 5-5 draw against Norway, who were sixth, both countries having lost all their previous matches.
In the girls’ competition, the England squad of Kate Cheer, Denise Payet, Zahna Hall and Kate Nixon finished fifth, having been narrowly beaten 6-4 by Sweden and then outclassed 9-1 by champions France in their final match.
The French won all five matches to take the title, with Germany second, Norway third, Sweden fourth and The Netherlands in sixth.
England’s boys went into the second day with a record of one win and two defeats, but they quickly put any disappointment behind them.
It was Savill who got them off and running against the Dutch with a 3-1 win over Roel Bogie, although they were pegged back to 1-1 when Pang was beaten in five by Nolan Schultz.
Jarvis and Ramsden made light work of Erik Agamyan and Collin Jager respectively with 3-0 wins, but the Dutch retained an interest in the tie as the doubles were shared – Jarvis and Savill winning in five and Ramsden and Pang losing in four.
But it was all England from that point as they blitzed the reverse singles, Pang beating Jager in four and Jarvis seeing off Bogie in three straight, before Ramsden romped in 3-0 against Schultz and Savill beat Agamyan 3-1.
The girls started their day with a close duel against Sweden, being pipped 6-4.
The first singles were shared as Payet beat Lisa Hafn in five and Nixon lost to Elin Syngg in three straight.
Hall and Cheer then both lost 3-1, to Kornelia Jonsson and Hanna Kjellson respectively, only for England to roar back and win both doubles matches – Nixon and Hall in five.
Nixon’s defeat in five to Jonsson, coupled with Payet’s 3-1 reverse at the hands of Kjellson, meant the best England could hope for was a draw.
And that prospect looked solid as Cheer beat Hafn 3-1 and Hall held a 2-0 lead against Syngg. However, Syngg turned the match around to win 3-2 and seal overall victory for the Swedes.
Champions France had too much firepower for England in the afternoon session, with Payet’s 3-1 win over Alessia Schaccia the highlight of the 9-1 reverse. She also took Juliette Gasquez to five, a feat she repeated in the doubles alongside Cheer.
Click here for full results from the team competition
The players were not finished there as the first two rounds of group matches took place in the singles competitions, with players being drawn into groups of six or seven.
Payet had a terrific win over France’s Juliette Gasqez, coming from two down to win 3-2, but she then saw a 2-0 lead of her own evaporate as Vera Van Boheemen (NED) turned the tables.
Hall was beaten 3-1 by Germany’s Johanna Wiegand and 3-0 by Vony-Ange Randrioantsoa of France, while Cheer was defeated 3-0 by Franziska Schreiner (GER) in her only match.
Nixon took both her matches against Nora Bagner Nilsen (NOR) and Elin Syngg (SWE) to five sets but was on the wrong end of both results.
In the boys’ singles, Pang started by beating Nolan Schultz (NED) 3-1 and followed up with a storming 3-0 win over Norway’s Even Nikolai Horvli.
Savill beat Erik Agamyan (NED) in four before repeating that scoreline against Fredrik Meringdal of Norway.
Ramsden was on the wrong end of a five-setter against France’s Bastien Rembert but bounced back to win another match that went the distance, against Nico Meierhof of Germany.
Jarvis romped in 3-0 in his only match against Leo De Nodrest of France.
The competition will be played to a finish on Sunday.
Results
Morning Session – Boys
England 8-2 Netherlands
Norway 0-10 Sweden
France 8-2 Germany
Morning Session – Girls
France 7-3 Norway
Germany 9-1 Netherlands
England 4-6 Sweden
Afternoon Session – Boys
France 4-6 Sweden
England 7-3 Germany
Nertherlands 5-5 Norway
Afternoon Session – Girls
Netherlands 4-6 Sweden
England 1-9 France
Germany 6-4 Norway
Click here for the report from Day One
by Paul Stimpson (May 24th 2014)