The 54th European Youth Championships in Kazan, Russia opened today. The England Team had a mixed day but the defeats were all against strong opposition.

Morning matches

Cadet Girls.

England cadet girls had a tough start to the team competition when they faced Russia in their first group match which England lost 3 – 0. Emma Torkington produced some good table tennis to stretch European number 2 cadet Ekaterina Guseva to four sets.

The next match against Serbia was a 3 – 2 defeat and Tin Tin Ho showed good fighting qualities in winning both of her matches 3 – 1.

Cadet Boys.

The cadet boys played one group match and opened their account with a 3 – 0 win over Moldova with Igor Morais and Helshan Weerasinghe winning one singles each and combining to win the doubles.

Junior Girls.

The junior girls team of Karina Le Fevre, Tressa Armitage and Chloe White started in good form with a 3 – 0 win over Armenia with Tressa winning 3 – 2 after trailing 2 sets to 0.

In the second match against a strong Croatian team Karina, Tressa and Yolanda King lost 3 – 0.

The junior boy’s team of Liam Pitchford, Gavin Evans and Sean Cullen beat Denmark 3 – 0. Gavin Evans proved to be in good form in his first international match in 16 months winning his match 3 – 0 and Sean Cullen winning after losing the first 2 sets.

The first round groups finish tomorrow, The Cadet Boys will face Estonia, the Cadet Girls have their final Match against Croatia. The Junior Boys have two matches tomorrow, a huge match against seeded Sweden tomorrow morning and later they face Lithuania while the Junior Girls will finish off against Lithuania.

All the days results can be found below

Photo: Gavin Evans a dominant performance on his return to International Competition against Denmark – courtesy Henk Hommes

Cadet  Boys Team

England (ENG) – Moldova (MDA)     3 : 0

528 WEERASINGHE, Helshan (ENG) beat 565 CISSA, Victor (MDA)        11 : 7, 12 : 10, 9 : 11, 12 : 10
529 MORAIS, Igor (ENG) beat 564 TERNA, Denis (MDA)            11 : 8, 11 : 8, 11 : 8,
528 WEERASINGHE, Helshan/529 MORAIS, Igor (ENG) beat
564 TERNA, Denis/565 CISSA, Victor (MDA)            11 : 7, 9 : 11, 11 : 5, 8 : 11, 11 : 6
Cadet Girls Team

England (ENG) – Russia (RUS)     0 : 3

726 HO, Tin Tin (ENG)  lost to 782 KHLYZOVA, Elizaveta (RUS)        11 : 7, 6 : 11, 11 : 13, 9 : 11
728 TORKINGTON, Emma (ENG) lost to 780 GUSEVA, Ekaterina (RUS)        7 : 11, 11 : 7, 3 : 11,     7 : 11
726 HO, Tin Tin/KNOWLES, Megan (ENG) lost to
780 GUSEVA, Ekaterina/781 CHERNOVA, Daria (RUS)        6 : 11, 8 : 11, 8 : 11

England (ENG) – Serbia (SRB)     2 : 3

726 HO, Tin Tin (ENG)  beat 784 POPOV, Branislava (SRB)            8 : 11, 14 : 12, 11 : 9,  13 : 11
727 KNOWLES, Megan (ENG) lost to 785 VEJNOVIC, Ivana (SRB)        8 : 11, 11 : 13, 8 : 11
726 HO, Tin Tin//728 TORKINGTON, Emma (ENG) lost to
784 POPOV, Branislava/785 VEJNOVIC, Ivana (SRB)        11 : 4, 7 : 11, 6 : 11, 11 : 8, 5 : 11
726 HO, Tin Tin (ENG) beat 785 VEJNOVIC, Ivana (SRB)            9 : 11, 11 : 6, 11 : 5, 11 : 8
727 KNOWLES, Megan (ENG) lost to 784 POPOV, Branislava (SRB)        5 : 11, 7 : 11, 6 : 11

Junior Boys Team

England (ENG) – Denmark (DEN)     3 : 0

139 PITCHFORD, Liam (ENG)  beat 135 HAACK, Sebastien (DEN)        11 : 4, 11 : 3, 8 : 11,  11 : 5
140 EVANS, Gavin (ENG)  beat 136 S. JENSEN, Ruben (DEN)        11 : 2, 11 : 7, 11 : 6
141 CULLEN, Sean (ENG) beat 137 MADSEN, Emil (DEN)            7 : 11, 7 : 11, 11 : 8, 11 : 6, 11 : 7

Junior Girls Team

England (ENG) – Armenia (ARM)     3 : 0

328 LE FEVRE, Karina (ENG)     beat 301 MURADYAN, Liana (ARM)        11 : 9, 11 : 5, 11 : 5
329 ARMITAGE, Tressa (ENG) beat 300 VARDANYAN, Rubina (ARM)        6 : 11, 9 : 11, 14 : 12, 11 : 9, 11 : 7
331 WHYTE, Chloe (ENG) beat 302 AGHAYAN, Tamara (ARM)        12 : 10, 11 : 3, 11 : 8

Croatia (HRV) – England (ENG)     3 : 0

351 TUBIKANEC, Ivana (HRV)     beat 330 KING, Yolanda (ENG)        11 : 7, 11 : 9, 11 : 4
350 JEGER, Mateja (HRV)  beat 328 LE FEVRE, Karina (ENG)            12 : 10,  6 : 11, 11 : 9, 6 : 11, 11 : 5
352 PETEK, Petra (HRV)  beat 329 ARMITAGE, Tressa (ENG)            11 : 8, 11 : 3, 11 : 6

Photo