Four reach knockouts at WTT event in France

Four English boys reached the knockout rounds at the WTT Youth Contender Metz but were unable to advance beyond the last 32.

Connor Green (pictured above, photo by Michael Loveder) and Jakub Piwowar both made it through in the under-19s but were defeated by lower-ranked opponents in the last 64 – Green by Gabrielius Camara of the Netherlands, ranked 90 places below him at 186, and Piwowar by Nathan Pilard of France, 53 places below him at No 162.

Rohan Dani went out in the group stage, though he did take a game off world No 20 junior Alan Kurmangaliyev of Kazakhstan.

Dani (WR 235) did make it through in the under-17s, coming out on top of his group on a three-way countback. Jakub Piwowar and Kacper Piwowar (WR 301) also got through, and they also advanced through the round of 64.

In the last 32, however, all were defeated. Kacper Piwowar went out to world No 35 junior Wassim Essid of Tunisia, while Dani lost to Lee Seungsoo of South Korea (WR 30). Jakub Piwowar was beaten by Luca Khidasheli of Spain (WR 311).

Kacper Piwowar reached the last 32 of the under-15s after winning his group but was eliminated by Quentin Sandona of France (WR 872) in three close games.

Results

Under-19 Boys’ Singles
Qualifying group 2
Alan Kurmangaliyev (KAZ) bt Rohan Dani 3-1 (10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-1)
Ivan Kahn (NED) bt Dani 3-0 (12-10, 11-5, 11-7)

Qualifying group 20
Zhenlong Liu (AUT) bt Jakub Piwowar 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4)
Piwowar bt Sriram Sivam (IND) 3-0 (11-7, 13-11, 11-8)

Qualifying group 21
Connor Green bt Batsaikhan Tserendash (MGL) 3-0 (11-2, 11-2, 11-7)
Green bt Nazarii Solodkyi (UKR) 3-2 (11-2, 13-15, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3)

Round of 64
Gabrielius Camara (NED) bt Green 3-1 (11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7)
Nathan Pilard (FRA) bt Piwowar 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-6)

Under-17 Boys’ Singles
Qualifying group 9
Jakub Piwowar bt Adeepa Keerthiratne (AUS) 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7)
Mohamed Khaloufi (TUN) bt Piwowar 3-0 (11-6, 12-10, 11-8)

Qualifying group 15
Jakub Holubcik (SVK) bt Kacper Piwowar 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-9)
Piwowar bt Oliver De La Torre (MEX) 3-0 (11-4, 11-1, 11-6)

Qualifying group 23
Axel Bossis (FRA) bt Rohan Dani 3-2 (11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9)
Dani bt Elias-Mate Simo (SUI) 3-1 (11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-2)

Round of 64
Kacper Piwowar bt Kef Noorani (USA) 3-0 (w/o)
Jakub Piwowar bt Ivan Kahn (NED) 3-1 (7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 13-11)
Dani bt Gabriel Ployet (FRA) 3-0 (13-11, 11-8, 11-7)

Round of 32
Wassim Essid (TUN) bt Kacper Piwowar 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-4)
Luca Khidasheli (ESP) bt Jakub Piwowar 3-2 (9-11, 13-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-3)
Lee Seungsoo (KOR) bt Dani 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-8)

Under-15 Boys’ Singles
Qualifying group 12
Kacper Piwowar bt Ianis Gligoras (ROU) 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-5)
Piwowar bt Luciano Medrano (PER) 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8)

Round of 32
Quentin Sandona (FRA) bt Piwowar 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 12-10)

Four reach knockouts at WTT event in France Table Tennis England.