England picked up a good win over Romania, but it was not enough to make it through to the knockout stage of the Junior Boys’ Team event at the Hungarian Junior & Cadet Open.

The trio of Sam Wilson, David Gofton and Thomas Rayner came from 1-0 and 2-1 down to defeat Romania, with Wilson winning his two matches and Rayner picking up the decisive victory, withstanding a comeback to defeat Matei Dumitrescu 3-2 (11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9).

Earlier, the team had been defeated 3-0 by both the USA and eventual silver medallists France, though there were a couple of close matches, notably Wilson losing 13-11 in the fifth against USA’s Michael Minh Tran.

Rayner also competed in the Cadet Boys’ Singles and was hampered by a hip injury in the group stage, losing his first two matches. After some treatment, he recovered to win his final tie against Kerim Fazlic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, but it was not enough to advance to the knockouts.

Results

Junior Boys’ Team
Group 5
USA 3 England 0
Michael Minh Tran bt Sam Wilson 3-2 (11-5, 3-11, 8-11, 11-6, 13-11)
Nikhil Kumar bt Thomas Rayner 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-4)
Kai Zarehbin bt Gofton 3-1 (10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10)

France 3 England 0
Fabio Rakotoarimanana bt Wilson 3-1 (11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11)
Alexis Lebrun bt Rayner 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-3)
Jules Cavaille bt Gofton 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-7)

England 3 Romania 2
Andrei Tomica bt Rayner 3-1 (10-12, 11-8, 11-2, 11-9)
Wilson bt Matei Dumitrescu 3-0 (11-9, 12-10, 11-3)
Mihai Rosca bt Gofton 3-0 (11-7, 13-11, 11-5)
Wilson bt Tomica 3-0 (14-12, 12-10, 12-10)
Rayner bt Dumitrescu 3-2 (11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9)

Cadet Boys’ Singles
Group 18
Huang Sikai (SGP) bt Thomas Rayner 3-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7)
Lee Hoyun (KOR) bt Rayner 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-7)
Rayner bt Kerim Fazlic (BIH) 3-1 (10-12, 11-2, 11-5, 11-8)