England’s three teams have made winning starts at the European Youth Championships in Bratislava today.
The Junior Girls were the first in action, with Tin-Tin Ho, Maria Tsaptsinos and Lois Peake beating Greece 3-0 – though Tsaptsinos was taken to five sets. The girls followed up with a 3-0 voctory over Finland.
The Junior Boys’ line-up of Helshan Weerasinghe, Tom Jarvis and Sam Mabey swept aside Iceland 3-0 without dropping a set.
And the Cadet Boys’ squad of Alex Ramsden and Harry Dai got their campaign off to a winning start, 3-1 against Georgia, beaing beaten in the doubles.
The Cadets followed up with a 3-0 win over Estonia this evening as James Smith made his first appearance of the tournament alongside Ramsden in the doubles. The pair came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and seal the tie.
The qualifying groups are completed tomorrow. Also in the England squad in Bratislava is Luke Savill (Junior Boys).
Junior Girls’ Team
Qualifying Group F
England 3-0 Greece
Tin-Tin Ho bt Eleni Sofra 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-3)
Maria Tsaptsinos bt Georgia Chatzilygeroudi 3-2 (13-15, 11-3, 12-10, 8-011, 11-7)
Lois Peake bt Ifigeneia Isampaloglou 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-2)
England 3-0 Finland
Ho bt Annika Lundstrom 3-1 (11-3, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3)
Tsaptsinos bt Anna Kirichenko 3-0 (11-4, 11-2, 11-9)
Peake bt Pihla Eriksson 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-5)
Junior Boys’ Team
Qualifying Group H
England 3-0 Iceland
Helshan Weerasinghe bt Breki Thordarson 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-9)
Tom Jarvis bt Erlendur Gudmundsson 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 12-10)
Sam Mabey bt Magnus Johann Hjartarson 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-6)
Cadet Boys’ Team
Qualifying Group E
England 3-1 Georgia
Alex Ramsden bt Lasha Lomia 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-2)
Harry Dai bt Levan Pavliashvili 3-2 (12-10, 11-5, 7-11, 5-11, 11-9)
Lomia & Pavliashvili bt Ramsden & Dai 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 14-12)
Ramsden bt Pavliashvili 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8)
England 3-0 Estonia
Dai bt Maksim Vuhka 3-0 (11-7, 11-1, 11-7)
Ramsden bt Mart Luuk 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-5)
Ramsden & James Smith bt Vuhka & Luuk 3-2 (6-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4)
Paul Stimpson
July 10, 2015