by Ian Marshall, Editor

The no.3 seeds, at the final hurdle a 3-0 win was the outcome against the no.4 seeds, the Japanese combination of Sora Matsushima and Akito Saeki.

Denis Izdrunov gave his team the ideal start; he overcame Sora Matsushima by the very narrowest of five game margins (6-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9). Vladislav Makarov doubled the advantage by overcoming Akito Saeki (11-7, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7); before, continuing the policy followed throughout, Sergey Ryzhov partnered Vladislav Makarov to doubles success. They beat Sora Matsushima and Akito Saeki in straight games (11-6, 12-10, 11-9).

Imposing in the final, it had been the same earlier in the day from the Russian trio. At the quarter-final stage they had beaten the no.8 seeds, the Australian duo of Finn Luu and Nicholas Lum 3-0, prior to recording a 3-1 win in opposition to the top seeds, the Romanian combination formed by Iulian Chirita, Darius Movileanu and Andrei Tomica.

Meanwhile, in the opposite half of the draw, Sora Matsushima and Akito Saeki had recorded a 3-2 quarter-final success when facing the no.6 seeds, the Belgian outfit comprising Louis Laffineur, Nolan Lerat and Alessi Massart, before reserving their place in the final courtesy of a 3-1 success against the no.11 seeds, Poland’s Dawid Kosmal and Milosz Redzimski.

Notably in the contest against Belgium, Louis Laffineur accounted for both Akito Saeki (11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 7-11, 11-6) and Sora Matsushima (12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6). Meanwhile, in opposition to Poland, Sora Matsushima was the backbone of victory; he beat both Dawid Kosmal (11-3, 11-9, 12-10) and Milosz Redzimski (4-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7), whilst teaming with Akito Saeki to secure the doubles (7-11, 11-9, 11-3, 13-11).

Play in Hodonin concludes on Sunday 17th February with the cadet boys’ singles, cadet girls’ singles, cadet boys’ doubles and cadet girls’ doubles events.