by Ian Marshall, Editor
A 3-2 success was the end result for the trio from the Land of the Rising Sun, a contest in which Lev Katsman maintained his form of the previous day; he beat both Jo Yokotani (11-8, 8-11, 11-2, 8-11, 11-9) and Hiroto Shinozuka (3-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7) but those were the Russian outfits only successes. In the vital fifth and deciding engagement, Jo Yokotani responded, he overcame Maksim Grebnev (11-6, 11-4, 11-7) to secure the victory and a quarter-final place.
Contrary to expectations progress to the last eight for Hiroto Shinozuka, Hayate Suzuki and Jo Yokotani; it was the same for three further combinations.
Impressively the no.19 seeds, Frenchmen Guillaume Alcayde, Jules Cavaille and Alexis Lebrun recorded a 3-0 win in opposition to the no.4 seeds, the formation of Iran’s Amin Ahmadian and Radim Khayyam who joined forces with New Zealand’s Nathan Xu. Meanwhile, in a rather closer contest, it was the opposite fortunes for France. The no.12 seeds, the trio comprising by Belgium’s Louis Laffineur who partnered Sweden’s Martin Friis and Jonathan Thimon, recorded a 3-2 win in opposition to the no.7 seeds, the host nation’s Bilal Hamache, Myshaal Sabhi and Dorian Zheng to secure top place.
Victory by a narrow margin to cause an upset, it was the same for a further international combination comprising Ireland’s Owen Cathcart, Norway’s Borga Haug and Finland’s Alex Naumi. The no.9 seeds, in a full five match engagement, they overcame the no.8 seeds, the United States outfit formed by Sharon Alguetti, Nikhil Kumar and Victor Liu.
Surprise quarter-finalists, in the remaining groups it was as expected. The no.2 seeds, Poland’s Maciej Kubik, Samuel Kulczycki and Jan Zandecki duly secured first place in their group, as did the no.3 seeds, the French formation of Lilian Bardet, Vincent Picard and Fabio Rakotoarimanana. Top spot for the French but they did find one young man in form. Partnering Moldova’s Felix Cozmouci and colleague Jabdiel Torres, in a 3-2 overall defeat, Puerto Rico’s 15 year old Angel Naranjo beat both Lilian Bardet (12-10, 12-10, 11-4) and Vincent Picard (11-5, 12-10, 4-11, 6-11, 11-8).
First place for France, it was the same for the no.5 seeds, Belgium’s Nicolas Degros, Olav Kosolosky and Adrien Rassenfosse, as it was for the no.6 seeds, the German combination of Kirill Fadeev, Daniel Rinderer and Kay Stumper.
The junior boys’ team event will be played to a conclusion on Saturday 13th April.
