3/20/2009        Tunisian Junior Open

The French pairing of Dorian Nicolle and Benjamin Brossier proved the combination to cause the biggest surprise on the opening day of play, Friday 20th March 2009, at the Tunisian Open being staged in the country’s capital city, Tunis.

In a contest between the second teams of Germany and France, countries which are traditional rivals in a host of sports, it was the latter who prevailed. They beat the third seeds in a closely fought encounter overcoming the partnership of Ricardo Walther and Christoph Schmidl by theee matches to two.

Team Effort
It was very much a team effort.

Ricardo Walther remained unbeaten for the Germans but defeats for Christophe Schmidl at the hands of both Frenchmen plus a doubles reverse, spelt doom for Germany.

Healthy State
A splendid contest and it was one that underlined the very healthy state of table tennis in the two countries; both have a wide base of young players and therefore realistic chances of players emerging who can following in the footsteps of such notables as Jean-Philippe Gatien and Timo Boll.

Furthermore, neither team was troubled in their remaining matches contested on the opening day.

Convincing Wins
Dorian Nicolle and Benjamin Brossier recorded a three-nil win over Tunisia’s Ben Hmida Anas and Wejden Ben Hassen whilst Ricardo Walther and Christoph Schmidl did likewise in opposition to Slovakia’s Samuel Novota and Emanuel Horvat.

Close Call
Defeat for the no.3 seeded team and a close call for the no.4 seeds, Belgium.

They were extended the full five match distance by Spain’s Ferran Brugada and Alvaro Robles.

Lauric Jean Steers Belgium Home
Lauric Jean gave Belgium the perfect start by beating Alvaro Robles but Spain equalised thanks to a nail-biting five games win by Ferran Brugada over Julien Indeherberg. Spain went ahead with a doubles success, also in five games before the Belgium duo hit form.

Julien Indeherberg overcame Alvaro Robles in straight games to level matters with Lauric Jean securing victory by defeating Ferran Brugada, also in three straight games.

Place Secured
Success for Belgium who cemented their place at the top of the table with victory over Saudia Arabia’s Mohammed Al-Saeed and Abdulaziz Al-Magholth.

Problems for the third and fourth seeded teams but not for the top two partnerships in action; Germany’s Philipp Floritz and Patrick Franzika both finished the day without the loss of a single individual match as did the second seeds, Simon Gauzy and Quentin Robinot of France.

Tunisia Tested
Meanwhile, in the Cadet Boys’ Team event, the top teams all enjoyed success with second seeds, Tunisia, the only outfit to be tested.

They beat Belgium’s Florent Lambjet and Martin Allegro by three matches to one; Adam Hman remained unbeaten with the one Belgian success coming from Florent Lamjet against Mamia Thameur.

Belgium and Slovakia Imperious
As for Emilien Van Rossomme and Robin Saudemont, the no.1 seeds and the duo of Slovakia’s Martin Jezo and Michal Pavolka, the no.3 seeds; it was victory without the loss of a single individual match.