The third day of the 54th European Youth Championships in Kazan, Russia saw the beginning of the positional knockouts of the team event.
Cadet Girls.
Tin Tin Ho got England off to a good start with a 3 – 1 win against Nikki Eerland of the Netherlands, but that was to be the only win for the cadet girls in this match as the Netherlands won 3 – 1.
The girls then faced Belgium. Megan Knowles came from two games behind against Vanacker ranked 45 places above her to win 3 – 2. Two more wins for Tin Tin saw England win 3 – 1. The cadet girls now play for places 17 – 20.
Cadet Boys.
Helshan Weerasinghe and Igor Morais played their best table tennis in an England shirt this morning and came away with a 3 – 0 win against Slovakia.
They followed this with a great performance against one of the favourite teams Germany. Helshan was the star of the show beating Germany’s Dang Qiu European cadet number 3. But it was not enough. Germany won 3-1. Englands boys will now play for places 9 – 16.
Junior Girls.
Yolanda King returned to the junior girls team and won her match against the Czech Republic. One more win from Karina Le Fevre gave England a 2 – 1 lead but this wasn’t enough as the Czech girls won the next two games to win the match 3 – 2.
Spain were the girls next opponents and a strong Spanish side beat England 3 – 0.
The girls are now playing for places 21 – 24.
Junior Boys.
The junior boys team of Liam Pitchford, Gavin Evans and Sean Cullen played the Czech Republic in their only game of the day. A thrilling encounter had the crowd on the edge of their seats. With one win each from Liam and Sean the match went to the final game. Gavin Evans showed what a great player he is with a 3 – 0 win against Michal Benes to give England a 3 – 2 victory.
England boys now play for positions 1 – 8.
Photo: Tin Tin Ho – 3 wins today – photo courtesy of Henk Hommes
Results
Cadet Boys
Germany (GER) – England (ENG) 3 : 1
542 QIU, Dang (GER) lost to 528 WEERASINGHE, Helshan (ENG) 11 : 9, 9 : 11, 11 : 5, 5 : 11, 5 : 11
543 ORT, Kilian (GER) beat 529 MORAIS, Igor (ENG) 9 : 11, 11 : 7, 11 : 4, 11 : 9 1
543 ORT, Kilian/544 SAUER, Maikel (GER) beat
528 WEERASINGHE, Helshan/529 MORAIS, Igor (ENG) 8 : 11, 11 : 8, 11 : 4, 11 : 6
542 QIU, Dang (GER) beat 529 MORAIS, Igor (ENG) 11 : 6, 11 : 9, 11 : 6
Cadet Girls
England (ENG) – Netherlands (NED) 1 : 3
726 HO, Tin Tin (ENG) beat 765 EERLAND Nikki, (NED) 11 : 7, 8 : 11, 11 : 5, 12 : 10
727 KNOWLES, Megan (ENG) lost to 764 VERMAAS, Kim (NED) 10 : 12, 9 : 11, 4 : 11
726 HO, Tin Tin/727 KNOWLES, Megan (ENG) lost to
764 VERMAAS, Kim /765 EERLAND Nikki (NED) 6 : 11, 11 : 9, 14 : 12, 10 : 12, 6 : 11
726 HO, Tin Tin (ENG) lost to764 VERMAAS, Kim (NED) 8 : 11, 11 : 5, 9 : 11, 9 : 11
Belgium (BEL) – England (ENG) 1 : 3
708 VAN ACKER, Florence (BEL) lost to 727 KNOWLES, Megan (ENG) 11 : 8, 14 : 12, 4 : 11, 6 : 11, 10 : 12
710 LOYEN, Eline (BEL) lost to 726 HO, Tin Tin (ENG) 9 : 11, 9 : 11, 14 : 12, 11 : 5, 8 : 11
707 MARCHETTI, Nathalie/708 VAN ACKER, Florence (BEL) beat
727 KNOWLES, Megan/726 HO, Tin Tin (ENG) 4 : 11, 11 : 8, 11 : 4, 6 : 11, 11 : 5
708 VAN ACKER, Florence (BEL) lost to 726 HO, Tin Tin (ENG) 11 : 6, 7 : 11, 8 : 11, 4 : 11
Junior Boys
England (ENG) – Czech Republic (CZE) 3 : 2
139 PITCHFORD, Liam (ENG) beat 132 BENES, Michal (CZE) 11 : 9, 11 : 4, 14 : 12
140 EVANS, Gavin (ENG) lost to 131 BAJGER, Ondrej (CZE) 12 : 14, 6 : 11, 12 : 10, 11 : 7, 7 : 11
141 CULLEN, Sean (ENG) beat 133 SEIBERT, Jakub (CZE) 11 : 9, 11 : 9, 8 : 11, 7 : 11, 11 : 5
139 PITCHFORD, Liam (ENG) lost to 131 BAJGER, Ondrej (CZE) 8 : 11, 11 : 4, 3 : 11, 11 : 8, 8 : 11
140 EVANS, Gavin (ENG) beat 132 BENES, Michal (CZE) 12 : 10, 11 : 5, 11 : 6
Junior Girls
Spain (ESP) – England (ENG) 3 : 0
332 FERNANDEZ, Patricia (ESP) beat 329 ARMITAGE, Tressa (ENG) 11 : 13, 12 : 10, 11 : 9, 11 : 9
333 DE LA VEGA, Marta (ESP) beat 328 LE FEVRE, Karina (ENG) 11 : 7, 11 : 6, 11 : 5
334 BUENO, Paula (ESP) beat 330 KING, Yolanda (ENG) 11 : 8, 13 : 11, 11 : 8