by Simon Daish
Wang Zengyi handed the Polish team the early momentum in the tie with his four games victory over Li Ahmet (11-5, 11-13, 11-9, 11-8). Further wins from Jakub Dyjas and Marek Badowski, who beat Ibrahim Gunduz (7-11, 11-4, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8) and Abdullah Talha Yigenler (12-10, 12-10, 11-6) completed the job.
So often the inspiration behind Belarusian success Vladimir Samsonov once again led by example for his country as Belarus prevailed 3-2 at home to the Slovak Republic. Earning his first win of the match against Samuel Novota (11-4, 9-11, 11-1, 11-9), Samsonov followed up with a narrow victory over Lubomir Pistej (11-9, 6-11, 11-13, 15-13, 11-5) to achieve a brace.
Another player who put in a standout showing for their country was Alvaro Robles: he accounted for Danish stars Michael Maze (11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10) and Jonathan Groth (11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10) with Carlos Machado holding off a late comeback charge from Maze (11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 8-11, 11-3) to see Spain over the line.
Russia made it two wins from two fixtures with a fine home display against Luxembourg while the other Group A match saw Belgium secure a comfortable victory over Romania.
Eight encounters were played out in Group B one of which featured a dramatic win for Gavin Maguire, inspiring Ireland to a successful outing in Azerbaijan. Both Bulgaria and Estonia registered narrow wins away from home with Lithuania, Israel, Italy, Serbia and Switzerland also picking up victories.