Alex Ramsden and Harry Dai enjoyed good debuts as England’s Cadets aquitted themselves well at the Hungarian Youth Open.

For Ramsden, it was a World Tour debut, while it was Dai’s first time in an England shirt. As a pair they reached the last 32 of the doubles, where they more than held their own in three close sets against  top seeds Cristian Pletea and Rares Sipos of Romania.

Meanwhile, Ramsden reached the same stage of the singles, having finished second in his group, beating Andrin Melliger (SUI) and Artur Paris (HUN) 3-0 and losing 3-1 to Viggo Kippel of Sweden.

In the round of 64 he beat Ron Dimant of Israel 3-2 (12-10, 8-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9), but then lost at the next stage to Javier Soria of Spain 3-1 (9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 4-11).

In the boys’ groups, Harry Dai just lacked some experience at crucial stages as he lost 3-2 to both Agnius Kacerauskas of Lithuania and Filip Hromek of Czech Republic and 3-1 to Stefan Peko of Slovakia.

In the doubles, Ramsden and Dai beat Rene Reho and Jakub Zelinka of Slovakia 3-2 in the last 64 (8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5) to advance to a showdown against the top seeds Pletea and Sipos. They were never outclassed as they ran the Romanians close in every set before losing 9-11, 12-14, 7-11.

England’s National Talent Development Coach Matt Stanforth said: “They competed well against the top pair in Europe – they weren’t overawed and they got better and better with each game.”

In the girls’ singles, Denise Payet lost 3-0 to Camille-Chloe Linke (SUI) and 3-2 to Sarah Abousetta of Egypt in her group, while Kate Cheer beat Veronika Menko of Hungary 3-1 but lost by the same score to Nikoleta Puchovanova of Slovakia and 3-0 to Korea’s Yubin Shin.

In the doubles, they in the last 32 to Linke and Izabela Lupulesku (SRB) 3-2 (11-8, 3-11, 11-9, 5-11, 8-11).

There were also some good performances in the team events, as detailed below.

Earlier in the tournament, Maria Tsaptsinos and Tin-Tin Ho reached the Junior Girls’ doubles quarter-finals

Click here to read more about the Junior Boys and Girls’ singles

Matt Stanforth added: “The standard was very high and it was a really good learning experience for the squad. It gives them a good yardstick of where they are and what they need to do to move forwards.

“They’ve been given things to work on and we’re hopefully looking at other competitions for them in the new year.”

Tom Jarvis, playing in his first Junior tournament at this level, said: “I am pleased with my performance in Hungary. I played well in the singles event and won my group. I played a chopper in the second round and although I lost 4-0 I had chances in the first two sets and was happy with my play.

Team results – Junior Boys

England 2 Netherlands 3
Tom Jarvis bt Stellan Smid 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-6)
Sam Mabey lost to Bas Hergelink 1-3 (15,17, 2-11, 11-1, 7-11)
Danny Lawrence bt Roel Bogie 3-0 (12-10, 11-9, 11-7)
Jarvis lost to Hergelink 0-3 (5-11, 8-11, 6-11)
Mabey lost to Smid 2-3 (11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 9-11)

England 0 Russia A 3
Lawrence lost to Konstantin Chernov 2-3 (15-13, 2-11, 11-7, 10-12, 6-11)
Jarvis lost to Nikita Yarushin 2-3 (5-11, 11-5, 11-3, 3-11, 2-11)
Mabey lost to Andrey Semenov 1-3 (13-15, 4-11, 11-8, 6-11)

Junior Girls

England 3 Noway/Denmark 0
Tin-Tin Ho bt Sofie Egeholt 3-1 (8-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-3)
Maria Tsaptsinos bt Ilka Doval 3-2 (10-12, 13-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-3)
Lois Peake bt Kristin Eng 3-0 (13-11, 16-14, 11-7)

England 1 Romania B 3
Tsaptsinos lost to Diana Lupu 1-3 (5-11, 11-6, 4-11, 7-11)
Ho bt Alina Zaharia 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-8)
Peake lost to Arina Singeorzan 2-3 (6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 5-11)
Ho lost to Lupu 3-1 (9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 8-11)

Cadet Boys

England 0 Switzerland 3
Harry Dai lost to Dimitri Brunner 0-3 (5-11, 10-12, 9-11)
Alex Ramsden lost to Nicolas Simonet 1-3 (11-3, 6-11, 8-11, 8-11)
Dai/Ramsden lost to Brunner/Simonet 1-3 (8-11, 11-4, 6-11, 4-11)

England 2 Spain 3
Ramsden bt Francisco Miguel Ruiz 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 14-12)
Dai bt Javier Soria 3-2 (11-9, 6-11, 2-11, 11-5, 13-11)
Dai/Ramsden lost to Ruiz/Soria 1-3 (7-11, 11-7, 10-12, 5-11)
Ramsden lost to Soria 2-3 (9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11)
Dai lost to Ruiz 0-3 (3-11, 6-11, 9-11)

England 2 Serbia 3
Ramsden bt Matija Jovicic 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-9)
Dai lost to Dimitrije Levajac 0-3 (4-11, 6-11, 5-11)
Dai/Ramsden bt Jovicic/Levajac 3-1 (11-3, 11-8, 4-11, 11-7)
Ramsden lost to Levajac 1-3 (11-8, 5-11, 11-13, 11-13)
Dai lost to Jovicic 2-3 (11-8, 19-21, 7-11, 13-11, 4-11)

Cadet Girls

England 3 Romania B 0
Denise Payet bt Krisztina Varga 3-2 (8-11, 4-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-3)
Kate Cheer bt Tania Plaian 3-2 (11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10)
Cheer/Payet bt Plaian/Varga 3-2 (12-10, 12-14, 15-13, 9-11, 11-9)

England 0 Russia 3
Payet lost to Elina Rub 1-3 (5-11, 6-11, 11-9, 7-11)
Cheer lost to Kristina Kazantseva 0-3 (3-11, 9-11, 7-11)
Cheer/Payet lost to Kazantseva/Rub 1-3 (4-11, 5-11, 11-7, 8-11)

Paul Stimpson
November 11, 2014