by Ian Marshall, Editor

The no.10 seeds, in the crucial contest, Slovenia beat France, the no.3 seeds; a full distance five match encounter was the verdict, heroine of the hour being Lea Paulin. In the vital concluding contest she kept her nerve to beat Isa Cok by the very narrowest of margins (11-6, 14-16, 11-9, 4-11, 13-11).

A nail-biting contest concluding the fixture, the win came after for France Prithika Pavade had beaten both Lea Paulin (5-11, 11-2, 11-2, 11-9) and Katarzina Strazar (11-4, 11-3, 11-2). Crucially in the third match of the engagement, Lara Opeka had given Slovenia a major boost by beating Camille Lutz (9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5). The wincoming after in the opening contest Katarzina Strazar had overcome Isa Cok (11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9).

Second place and elimination for France, it was the same for the no.5 seeds, the Italian combination formed by Jamila Laurenti, Gaia Monfardini and Nicole Arlia. In the crucial contest which was to decide top spot in the group, they suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the no.7 seeds, the Singaporean trio formed by Zhou Jingyi, Goi Rui Xuan and Koh Jia Qi. Star of the show was Goi Rui Xuan; she beat both Gaia Monfardini (11-8, 11-5, 11-9) and Jamila Laurenti (11-9, 11-6, 11-2).

Defeats for two prominent teams, for the most prominent of all there were no such troubles. Top seeds, the Polish combination of Maja Miklaszewska, Anna Wegrzyn and Katarzyna Wegrzyn duly topped their group, as did the second seeds, Russia’s Elizabet Abraamian, Anastasia Kolish and Ekaterina Zironova.

Play in the junior girls’ team event concludes on Saturday 16th February.