by Simon Daish
The player to fall at the hands of Rares Sipos was no.5 seed Irvin Bertrand, but the French competitor put up a brave fight with five of the six games being decided by no more than a two point margin (10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9).
Irvin Bertrand wasn’t the only player representing France to exit at the quarter-finals stage – fellow compatriot Leo De Nodrest was sent home packing by fourth seed Truls Moregard (7-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-5, 1-11, 11-7) as French hopes in the category were brought to a close.
Looking to defend his Junior Boys’ Singles title, Greek star Ioannis Sgouropolous edged slightly closer to achieving that goal with a six games victory over Italy’s Matteo Mutti (11-4, 13-11, 11-9, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9) to move to within two wins from the top step of the podium.
Awaiting second seed Ioannis Sgouropolous in the last four is Russia’s Maksim Grebnev after the no.25 seed saw off 15th seed Laurens Devos with a stunning display (11-9, 12-10, 11-8, 5-11, 11-4).
Four players remain – who will lift the Junior Boys’ Singles trophy on Tuesday 24th July?
