Saturday

Cadet Boys
After Friday’s assured start, expectations placed on Gavin Evans were high. However, Cedric Nuytick came at him all guns blazing beating the favourite 3-1.  In the third round, Gavin produced a composed display to defeat Aklexander Zhelubenkov, which left him in joint third position. This was swiftly put into jeopardy as he went on to concede defeat to Romain Lorentz.

Meanwhile, Liam Pitchford's illustrious talents were pushed to the limits as his third and fourth opponents powered passed him. Liam’s fifth match was a real humdinger. He fought back magnificently against Cedric Nuytinck and levelled the scores at 2-2 with some superb free-flowing table tennis. It looked to be going his way as he built up an 8-3 lead in the decider. Amazingly, his opponent found another level of resilience and fought back bravely. At 9-9 the match was anyone’s and after a series of frantic and spellbinding match points, Nuytinck clinched victory. Unfortunately, this was to be the story of Liam’s day: as for the second time Liam was defeated in the fifth, this time against the lightning quick and diminutive Julien Indeherberg.

Cedric Nuytick (BEL) bt. Gavin Evans
11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10
Anthony Tran (SWE) bt. Liam Pitchford
6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 15-13

Gavin Evans bt. Aklexander Zhelubenkov (RUS)
11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7
Simon Gauzy (FRA) bt. Liam Pitchford
11-5, 9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 13-11

Gavin Evans bt. Dorian Nicolle (FRA)
11-8, 11-6, 11-9
Cedric Nuytinck (BEL) bt. Liam Pitchford
11-8, 11-5, 3-11, 5-11, 16-14

Romain Lorentz (FRA) bt. Gavin Evans
11-6, 11-4, 3-11, 4-11, 11-9
Julien Indeherberg (BEL) bt. Liam Pitchford
11-6, 6-11, 13-11, 6-11, 11-6

Cadet Girls
Karina Lefevre performed exceptionally well in her first game of the morning, taking her opponent Patricia Fernandez right to the wire. However, despite a continual improvement in performance level, Karina was unable to manage a win against the high-level opposition.

Patricia Fernandez (ESP) bt. Karina Lefevre
11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 12-14, 11-7
Dora Madarasz (HUN) bt. Karina Lefevre
12-10, 11-4,13-11

Maria Xiao (POR) bt. Karina Lefevre
11-7, 11-9, 15-13
Sofia Polkonova (MDA) bt. Karina Lefevre
11-7, 11-6, 11-9

Junior Boys
Paul Drinkhall continued his form, supplying a 4-0 drubbing to his Swedish opponent Kristian Karlsson.  Knight swiftly followed, easing gently past his opponent Hunor Szocz. The close match went to deuce on three occasions, but unlike Friday, Knight demonstrated composure and dispatched his opponent 4-1. Unfortunately the English duo could not sustain their winning form in the next round as both lost to lower ranked opposition. This meant that Paul was now reliant on Tomas Tregler to lose twice on Sunday to retain his title.

Paul Drinkhall bt. Kristian Karlsson (SWE)
14-12,11-9,11-6,11-9
Darius Knight bt. Hunor Szocz (ROU)
11-13, 11-3, 11-9, 12-10, 11-3

Thomas Tregler (CZE) bt.  Paul Drinkhall
11-6, 9-11, 6-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-5
Clement Drop (FRA) bt. Darius Knight
11-7, 4-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-8, 11-6

Paul Drinkhall bt. Pawel Fertikowski (POL)
8-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-3
Berna Kovac (HRV) bt. Darius Knight
11-5, 13-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-4

Paul Drinkhall bt. Piotr Chodorski (POL)
11-6, 5-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8
Darius Knight bt. Kristian Karlsson (SWE)
9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9

Junior Girls
Emma Vickers’ struggle on the first day was set to continue.  Her first opponent on Saturday was the German no.3 junior Rosalia Stahr who proved too consistent. This theme continued throughout the rest of the days play.

Rosalia Stahr (GER) bt. Emma Vickers
11-8, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5
Malin Petterson (SWE) bt. Emma Vickers
11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-5.
Lorine Brunet (FRA) bt. Emma Vickers
11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-0, 6-11, 11-4

Sunday

Cadet Boys
Gavin Evans’s last chance of glory disappeared after he was beaten in five games by an inspired Julien Indeherberg. His tiny opponent, perhaps the quickest player in the hall, possibly the noisiest and certainly one of the most talented, never gave Gavin a chance to settle.  Gavin recovered and went on to win his next two and finish in third position, a disappointment for the highly rated talent and no 1 contender coming into this event.

Liam Pitchford scored his first win of the weekend, and what a good victory it was against joint leader Hampus Soderlund. An excellent performance. He continued in this rich vein of form, sealing another excellent victory against  Dorian Nicolle. Liam finished in a very gallant ninth place.

Julien Indeherberg (BEL) bt Gavin Evans
11-3, 3-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-7
Liam Pitchford bt Hampus Soderlund (SWE)
11-8, 11-4, 11-5
Liam Pitchford bt. Dorian Nicolle (FRA)
11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6
Gavin Evans bt. Hampus Soderlund (SWE)
11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8
Gavin Evans bt. Simon Gauzy (FRA)
6-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5
Alexander Zhelubenkov (RUS)  bt. Liam Pitchford
9-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-7

Cadet Girls
Karina Lefevre’s introduction to play at this exalted level continued. Despite a sense of improvement, it proved to be another hard day against Europe’s best.

Bernadette Szocs (ROU) bt. Karina Lefevre
11-3, 12-10, 11-7
Klaudia Kusinska (POL) bt. Karina Lefevre
11-9, 11-8, 11-5
Britt Eerland (Netherlands) bt. Karina Lefevre
13-11, 11-9, 11-5

Junior Boys
Paul Drinkhall scored his seventh win of the tournament, a skillful and solid 4-2 success against Alexander Shibaev.  However today was all going to be about the final round. If Darius could beat Tomas Tregler and Paul could defeat Clement Drop, Paul would win the tournament.

But it was the athletic Frenchman who came out on top in six games to pip Paul for second place. Not only had Drop played far above any reasonable expectations, but he had only qualified for the event as second reserve.

There was further disappointment as Darius Knight never looked like producing the form that would break Thomas Tregler’s stride. The Czech had it pretty much his own way as he powered through to take the title, Darius finished in a disappointing ninth place. 

Paul Drinkhall bt. Borna Kovac (HRV)
6-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 16-18, 11-1, 11-9
Alexander Shibaev (RUS) bt. Darius Knight
11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 3-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5

Paul Drinkhall bt. Alexander Shibaev (RUS)
6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9
Piotr Chodorski (POL) bt. Darius Knight
11-7, 11-5, 11-3, 11-4

Clement Drop (FRA) bt. Paul Drinkhall
11-8, 6-11, 8-11, 10-12, 11-6, 10-12
Thomas Tregler (CZE) bt. Darius Knight
11-6, 11-3, 11-7, 11-4

Junior Girls
Emma Vickers improved as the weekend progressed, and she can take credit for an excellent display in her final match against Monika Molnar. This game featured some furious and exciting backhand exchanges.

Hana Matelova (CZE) bt. Emma Vickers
11-4, 11-5, 11-9, 13-11
Cristina Hirici (ROU) bt. Emma Vickers
11-8, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4

First time viewer’s opinion

We caught up with Mark Ashenden, a first time table tennis watcher and full time BBC reporter to see what he thought after the tournament.

How would you describe the tournament?
There was a real buzz inside the stadium throughout the three days: it was electric, particularly on the final day. The standard was exceptional; I was simply amazed at the brilliance achieved by all male and female players.

What level of table tennis were you expecting to see?
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I was blown away by the power and subtle skills shown by many of the players.

What did you think of the English players’ performances?
Paul was phenomenal considering he had flu - was a shame he was pipped at the end but was totally inspiring watching a top Brit at the top (almost) of his game. Liam was sensational and it was also great to see the girls who kept going despite some disappointing results.

What was your favourite moment?
Paul's comeback from 2-0 down was exciting, In front of the rowdy crowd as well - made the hairs on my neck stand on end. Plus seeing Liam in action was brilliant

Would you recommend a friend to come and watch?
I wouldn’t think twice. Atmosphere electric and seeing players at the top of their game showing their subtle touches and brute strength, it's a phenomenal sport and I feel honoured at having witnessed these players in such an amazing atmosphere.

Opinions from those in the know

Following the conclusion of the presentations, we managed to interview those at the top to gain there views for you to see:

Stefano Bossi
Alex Murdoch
Steen Hansen

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