Ollie Maric-Murray and Maliha Baig won the Under-12 titles and Sienna Jetha and Kacper Piwowar the Under-10 golds on the second day of the PG Mutual U10-U13 National Championships.
Click here to read the report from day one
Maric-Murray and Baig both stepped up from the Under-11 titles they won last year, while for Jetha it was a case of retaining the same title she claimed last time.
Piwowar became champion for the first time – his older brother Jakub was the defeated finalist in the Under-12s category at the event in Wolverhampton.
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Under-12 Boys
Ollie Maric-Murray stepped up from last year’s Under-11 title, the second seed overcoming top seed and his double partner Jakub Piwowar in the final.
When Piwowar won the second set, it could have gone either way, but Maric-Murray pulled away to clinch a 3-1 (11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7) victory.
Maric-Murray said: “I’m really happy I won the under-12s and happy to defend the title I won last time. It was a tough final. We are good friends and he’s really consistent and it’s hard to get the ball past him.”
The two semi-finals were decided in three, Piwowar beating Francesco Bonato 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 and Maric-Murray blasting past Joseph Dennison 11-1, 11-2, 11-5.
Dennison had reached the last four by edging a close match against Cameron Driver in the quarters, the fourth seed going through 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7).
AT the same stage Maric-Murray had to hold off Larry Trumpauskas who, having lost the first two sets, had won the third and led the fourth 8-1. But the second seed turned the tide and prevailed 3-1 (11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 12-10).
Third seed Joseph Cooper was knocked out in the last 16, 3-1 by Frederick Jones, who went on to lose in three to Bonato in the quarter-finals.
Group stage
Second-ranked James Millward won Group 10, beating the top player Abraham Earl Sellado 3-1 (7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8) – Sellado did safely clinch the runners-up spot.
Under-11 silver medallist Isaac Kingham rose from third to second in Group 11 thanks to a 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-9, 13-11) victory over Benjamin Dunkley.
Group 8 went to a three-way countback between Louis Cheung-Turner, Ben Mold and Max Radiven, who all won two matches, including Mold defeating Cheung-Turner in five (8-11, 11-2, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8).
With Radiven beating Mold 3-1 and Cheung-Turner overcoming Radiven in three, it was the third-ranked Radiven who missed out, while top-seeded Cheung-Turner took top spot.
Several of the groups saw players scratched – in fact, two groups featured only two players.
Another couple went down to three players and, in one of those, Hugo Nguyen’s splendid 3-2 (6-11, 11-5, 15-17, 11-9, 12-10) victory over Eduard Lakatos put him through behind Ralph Pattison.
The top two went through in the other groups, although James Donald needed a good 3-2 (11-1, 9-11, 12-14, 11-1, 11-6) victory over Prateek Sai Divakaria to go through from Group 7 behind Francesco Bonato.
In Group 12, Frederick Jones sealed second behind Larry Trumpauskas with a 3-2 (11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-4) win over Charlie Davidson, while George Jackson needed to beat Kacper Piwowar 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-4, 11-9) to take his second place in Group 5, behind Lennon Maughan.
Under-12 Girls
Maliha Baig made up for disappointment in yesterday’s Under-13 final as she saw off Sienna Jetha to take the gold.
The top seed, who won the Under-11 title last year, had to fight for the trophy despite the 3-0 scoreline – the game scores were 14-12, 14-12, 11-8.
Baig, from Chadwell Heath in Essex, said: “After losing those matches, I wanted to show everyone I could win, so I’m really happy.”
Fifth seed Jetha saw off the third seed Connie Dumelow in the semi-finals, recovering from losing the first game to post a 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8) victory.
Baig had a reasonable workout in her last-four tie with Kate Watkinson, coming through 3-0 I(11-6, 14-12, 11-7).
Jetha got to the last four thanks to an impressive victory over second seed Bethany Ellis, twice coming from behind to edge through 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 12-14, 15-13, 11-7).
Back in the preliminary round, there was a five-set victory for Rachael Iles, who held off Emily Cheung 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7). Iles went out to Watkinson in the quarters.
Group stage
The top two seeds in Group 8 swapped places as Under-11 champion Mia Longman defeated the top-ranked Emily Cheung 3-0 (15-13, 11-8, 11-8).
Caron Charles rose from third to second in Group 2 by defeating the higher-ranked Bella Tonev 3-0 (16-14, 13-11, 11-6). Bethany Ellis was top of the group, as expected.
Everywhere else, the top two went through in the correct order – though in Group 7, No 1 Jessica Morris beat No 2 Ella Pashley 3-2 (11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7) to secure top spot.
Under-10 Boys
Kacper Piwowar did what his brother Jakub was unable to do and won the gold medal with a victory over Max Radiven.
The unseeded Piwowar recovered from losing the first game to fourth seed Radiven and secured a 3-1 (6-11, 14-12, 11-4, 11-7) victory – though he nearly let the second game slip as his opponent battled back from 10-5 down to lead 11-10.
The new champion, from Torquay, said: “I feel very good. I the beginning I thought I would be knocked out in the group because in the Under-11s and Under-12s I didn’t play very well.
“I had Max in my group and I lost to him 3-2 but my mum was a really big help and told me to keep it on his backhand and I kept getting points until I won.”
Piwowar knocked out the top seed Abraham Earl Sellado in the quarter-finals, just edging a high-quality match 3-2 (8-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7).
He went on to beat Leo Nguyen 3-0 (11-9, 11-1, 12-10) in the semi-finals, while Radiven got past Jamie Myska-Buddell 3-0 (17-15, 11-6, 11-4).
Group stage
Adam Alibhai won Group 2 from the No 3 position, winning all three of his matches including a 3-1 (12-10, 11-6, 4-11, 14-12) victory over the top seed, Hugo Nguyen – who went through in second place.
The No 2 player in Group 5, Seth Holland, leap-frogged Sam Davies into top spot as the group was decided on a three-way countback.
Those two and Jake Davidson all won three matches, but Holland’s 3-0 (12-10, 11-4, 11-4) win over Davidson proved the key result.
Earlier, Davidson beat Davies 11-9 in the fifth and Davies beat Holland 11-7 in a decider – meaning Davies also went through.
Jamie Myska-Buddell rose from third to second in Group 1, defeating Noah Baxter 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-9) to move above his opponent.
The winner of Group 4 was decided in the match between the top two, and it went with ranking as Max Radiven recovered a 2-1 deficit to defeat Kacper Piwowar 3-2 (7-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9).
Top-ranked Leo Nguyen won Group 3, and Janak Shah went through with him, according to seeding, but only after a 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8) win over Ben Keeley.
Under-10 Girls
Top seed Sienna Jetha retained her Under-10 title in impeccable fashion, winning all three matches in the round-robin competition 3-0.
Eva Eccles was second but required an impressive fightback from 2-0 down against Brooke Morris, eventually winning their tie 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7).
Morris was on the right end of a deciding-set victory against Millie Noble, the 3-2 (8-11, 11-4, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9) victory giving her third place.
The champion, who is aged nine and comes from Watford, said: “It didn’t go as planned on Saturday – the under-11s got really bad for me and I felt under pressure.
“But I thought on Sunday it was a new day and I stayed focused and fought for every point. I played well and I’m happy to win the under-10s and get to the under-12s final.
“I want to dedicate my win to my dad, because it’s Father’s Day.”