by Ian Marshall, Editor

First place in the initial phase group, courtesy of a 3-0 success against the no.2 seeds, the Czech Republic’s Simon Belik and Ondrej Kveton; at the quarter-final stage a 3-2 win was recorded when facing the no.5 seeds, the outfit formed by Romania’s Iulian Chirita and Dragos Alexandru Bajor.

Man of the moment was Milosz Redzimski; he accounted for both Dragos Alexandru Bajor (0-11, 11-3, 11-6, 12-10) and Iulian Chirita (8-11, 12-10, 9-11, 13-11) to set the scene for Mateusz Zalewski to be the hero. In the fifth and deciding match of the fixture he accounted for Dragos Alexandru Bajor (13-11, 11-6, 11-4).

Meanwhile, for France, a 3-1 win against Germany’s Mike Hollo and Felix Kohler, the no.4 seeds, secured a penultimate round place. Star of the show was Thibaut Poret; he accounted for both Felix Kohler (9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-3) and Mike Hollo (11-9, 11-4, 11-7), whilst sandwiched in between teaming with Felix Lebrun to secure the doubles (11-9, 11-4, 11-7).

Surprise semi-finalists, in the opposite half of the draw it was the total antithesis. The top seeds, the Russian outfit comprising Denis Izumdrunov, Vladislav Makarov and Stepan Mul, having finished in first place in their group, gained a direct entry to the semi-finals; somewhat differently for the no.3 seeds, the Romanian combination of Eduard Ionescu, Darius Movileanu and Andrei Tomica, a quarter-final contest was required.

Impressively, a 3-0 win was recorded against the no.9 seeds, the French pairing formed by Hugo Deschamps and Milhane Jellouli. Earlier in the day, in the group stage of play, Hugo Deschamps and Milhane Jellouli had secured a surprise first place. They recorded a 3-0 win against the no.6 seeds, the pairing of Iran’s Navid Shams and Yemen’s Ebrahim Abdulhakim Gubran.

The cadet boys’ team event will be played to a conclusion on Saturday 13th April.