The 2014 Sterilgarda European Youth Championships turned out to be a chastening experience for the English squad as the might of Europe dominated during proceedings at the stunning Riva del Garda table tennis facilities.
With neither the cadet or junior boys’ teams managing promotion earlier in the week, the attention shifted towards the singles and doubles competitions in Italy to try and seal some breathtaking performances.
The singles began well with all of the six English boys making it to the first round, including Daniel Lawrence who had to see off Bulgaria’s Viktor Yanev in a 4-3 thriller, however, things would head downhill from there. Lawrence, as well as Sam Mabey, Adam Harrison and Luke Savill were all eliminated at the next round before top ranked cadet Tom Jarvis and no.1 junior Helshan Weerasinghe both fell disappointingly in the last 64.
Skegness player Jarvis was able to recover some pride with back-to-back last 16 finishes in the cadet boys doubles, alongside Savill, and the cadet mixed doubles, with Czech Republic’s Nikita Petrovova as partner.
The full English results from Riva del Garda can be viewed below.
2014 Sterilgarda European Youth Championships (Riva del Garda, ITA July 11-20th) Results
Cadet Boys Singles:
Last 128:
Pavel Daunarovich (BLR) bt Luke Savill 4-3 (11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 10-12, 11-9)
Last 64:
Maciej Kolodziejczyk (AUT) bt Tom Jarvis 4-2 (13-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 13-15, 11-6)
Cadet Boys Doubles:
Last 64:
Tom Jarvis/Luke Savill bt Aleksa Gacev/Aleksa Adamovic (SRB) 3-2 (7-11, 13-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6)
Last 32:
Tom Jarvis/Luke Savill bt Florian Cnudde/Valentin Pieraert (BEL) 3-2 (6-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6)
Last 16:
Gerrit Engemann/Jannik Xu (GER) bt Tom Jarvis/Luke Savill 3-1 (11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-3)
Cadet Mixed Doubles:
Last 128:
Tom Jarvis/Nikita Petrovova (CZE) bt Veikka Fleming/Annika Lundstrom (FIN) 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 14-12)
Last 64:
Tom Jarvis/Nikita Petrovova (CZE) bt Vasileios Antoniadis/Kristin Sevntagian (GRE) 3-1 (12-14, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9)
Last 32:
Tom Jarvis/Nikita Petrovova (CZE) bt Daniele Pinto/Cristiana Dumitrache (ITA) 3-2 (7-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-9, 12-10)
Last 16:
Artur Abusev/Elina Rub (RUS) bt Tom Jarvis/Nikita Petrovova (CZE) 3-2 (13-15, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8)
Junior Boys Singles:
Last 256:
Daniel Lawrence bt Viktor Yanev (BUL) 4-3 (11-3, 11-4, 4-11, 8-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-1)
Sam Mabey bt Jack Mills (JEY) 4-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9)
Last 128:
Nikola Marinkovic (SRB) bt Daniel Lawrence 4-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-3, 11-5)
Helshan Weerasinghe bt Thibaut Darcis (BEL) 4-2 (11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8)
Romain Ruiz (FRA) bt Adam Harrison 4-1 (11-5, 5-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-5)
Batuhan Ulucak (TUR) bt Sam Mabey 4-1 (10-12, 11-4, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9)
Last 64:
Andreas Levenko (AUT) bt Helshan Weerasinghe 4-2 (12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 16-14, 11-7)
Junior Boys Doubles:
Last 64:
Adam Harrison/Daniel Lawrence bt Patryk Zatowka/Tomasz Kotowski 3-1 (6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4)
Helshan Weerasinghe/Sam Mabey bt Miikka O’Connor/Markus Myllarinen (FIN) 3-1 (19-17, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8)
Last 32:
Gael Vende/Filip Karin (SUI) bt Adam Harrison/Daniel Lawrence 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-7)
Kasper Rasmussen/Jakob Hansen (DEN) bt Helshan Weerasinghe/Sam Mabey 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-7)
Junior Mixed Doubles:
Last 256:
Daniel Lawrence/Anna Pfeffer (AUT) bt Sergey Simonyan/Diana Khojagoryan (ARM) 3-2 (8-11, 4-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-3)
Last 128:
Darko Jorgic/Tamara Pavcnik (SLO) bt Helshan Weerasinghe/Eline Loyen (BEL) 3-1 (5-11, 12-10, 11-8, 12-10)
Tomas Polansky/Karolina Mynarova (CZE) bt Daniel Lawrence/Anna Pfeffer 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 12-10)
Erik Paulin (SLO)/Mihaela Brodar (CRO) bt Sam Mabey/Diana Rusinova (LAT) 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6)
by Russell Moore (July 21, 2014)