Both Sam Walker and Lewis Gray picked up shocks on day two of the European Youth Championships but it was not enough for the junior boys to overhaul a powerful Hungarian side.
Walker began with a tight five-game victory over European number 33 Adam Szudi before Gray followed that will an excellent victory over the European number 12 Tamas Lakatos after a topsy-turvey match to put England 2-0 up.
After trading blows in the first four games, Gray blew Lakatos away 11-1 in the decider to secure an impressive scalp. Unfortunately, England were not able to build on that lead as the Hungarians overturned the reverse matches while George Downing was painfully unlucky to lose 3-0 (12-10, 13-11, 16-14) to European number 26 Marton Szita.
The junior girls had more success as they beat Finland 3-1 to secure second place in their group with two confident victories for Jessica Dawson and one for Emily Bates.
In the cadet matches it was good news for the girls who beat Switzerland 3-2 with two wins for Tin-Tin Ho and one for Maria Tsaptsinos, but bad news for the boys who lost a third successive match after a 3-1 defeat to Denmark.
Team Results:
Cadet boys:
Denmark 3-1 England
Helshan Weerasinghe bt Jakob Hansen 3-1 (11-6, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7)
Anders Lind bt Daniel Lawrence 3-1 (5-11, 11-4, 14-12, 11-6)
Nielsen/Lind bt Weerasinghe/Lawrence 3-1 (11-13, 11-8, 12-10, 11-6)
Anders Lind bt Helshan Weerasinghe 3-2 w/o
Cadet girls:
England 3-2 Switzerland
Tin-Tin Ho bt CC Linke 3-1 (10-12, 11-5, 11-7, 11-2)
Celine Reust bt Maria Tsaptsinos 3-2 (11-13, 11-2, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5)
Reust/Linke bt Ho/Peake 3-2 (5-11, 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9)
Tin-Tin Ho bt Celine Reust 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-4)
Maria Tsaptsinos bt CC Linke 3-1 (11-6, 1-11, 11-7, 11-7)
Junior boys:
Hungary 3-2 England
Sam Walker bt Adam Szudi 3-2 (5-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7)
Lewis Gray bt Tamas Lakatos 3-2 (11-4, 5-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-1)
Marton Szita bt George Downing 3-0 (12-10, 13-11, 16-14)
Tamas Lakatos bt Sam Walker 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 12-10)
Adam Szudi bt Lewis Gray 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-5)
Junior girls:
England 3-1 Finland
Emily Bates bt Elli Rissanen 3-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-7)
Jessica Dawson bt VM Vastavuo 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-5)
AS Erkheikki bt Yolanda King 3-1 (11-4, 6-11, 11-2, 14-12)
Jessica Dawson bt Elli Rissanen 3-1 (11-6, 12-10, 7-11, 11-4)