Tin-Tin Ho and Helshan Weerasinghe were denied progress at the 2014 French Junior Open by the host nation’s duo Alexandre Cassin and Audrey Zarif.
Both Tin-Tin and Helshan were on competitive duty at the Senior English National Table Tennis Championships just three days before competing in Metz and they were both looking to extend their fine domestic form on the international stage. Tin-Tin, who made the Women’s Singles Semi-Finals and was victor in the Mixed Doubles, and Helshan, whose run in the Men’s Singles was only stopped by Chris Doran, both comfortably made the knockout stages in France.
England’s no.1 Junior Girl was top seed in her group and won all of her matches 3-0, meanwhile, England’s no. 1 Junior Boy was the second seed but still advanced thanks to three consecutive 3-1 wins, including the triumph over group 13’s top ranked player, Maksim Kiselev (RUS) 3-1 (11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 11-9).
Both players were then able to win one knockout match, against Ziver Gunduz (TUR) and Caroline Hajok (GER) respectively but could advance no further after bumping into the French opponents.
Helshan lost 4-2 to highly-rated French Junior Alexandre Cassin, while Tin-Tin was defeated 4-3 in a close game to Audref Zarif – the opponent she beat three years ago in the Cadet Final of the same competition.
The English duo were also involved in doubles action but, without any of their regular partners, were unable to advance far into the tournament. Helshan making the Last 32 alongside Gael Vende (SUI) while Tin-Tin and partner Arina Singeorzan (ROU) were knocked out in the Last 64.
2014 French Junior & Cadet Open, Metz (Mar 5-9, 2014)
Junior Boys’ Singles:
Groups 13:
Helshan Weerasinghe bt Adam Brat (SVK) 3-1 (11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8)
Helshan Weerasinghe bt Maksim Kiselev (RUS) 3-1 (11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 11-9)
Helshan Weerasinghe bt Martin Schaumberger (AUT) 3-1 (11-2, 3-11, 11-5, 11-5)
Last 64:
Helshan Weerasinghe bt Ziver Gunduz (TUR) 4-0 (15-13, 11-8, 11-3, 11-4)
Last 32:
Alexandre Cassin (FRA) bt Helshan Weerasinghe 4-2 (11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 14-12, 8-11, 11-8)
Junior Girls’ Singles:
Group 9:
Tin-Tin Ho bt Maya Kunats (BLR) 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-8)
Tin-Tin Ho bt Xuan Zhang (ESP) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-7)
Tin-Tin Ho bt Camille-Chloe Linke (SUI) 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-4)
Last 32:
Tin-Tin Ho bt Caroline Hajok (GER) 4-2 (12-10, 11-8, 12-10, 11-13, 9-11, 11-6)
Last 16:
Audrey Zarif (FRA) bt Tin-Tin Ho 4-3 (9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11, 11-7)
Junior Boys’ Doubles:
Last 64:
Helshan Weerasinghe/Gael Vende (SUI) bt Andrey Popov/Aleksadr Tiutriumov (RUS) 3-2 (12-10, 12-10, 9-11, 4-11, 13-11)
Last 32:
Benjy Capello/Romain Ruiz (FRA) bt Helshan Weerasinghe/Gael Vende (SUI) 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-8)
Junior Girls’ Doubles:
Last 32:
Angelique Gertenback (NED)/Yuliya Ryabova (KAZ) bt Tin-Tin Ho/Arina Singeorzan (ROU) 3-1 (7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7)
Russell Moore
(March 6, 2014)