Ireland players have battled hard at the Dutch Junior Open in Amsterdam, with several in line for high placings in the 11-event tournament that attracted 593 entries.
Fifteen entries were Irish, and 14 made it to the start line on Thursday at the four-day competition. Here is how they have fared so far:
GIRLS SECTION
Caoimhe English (GU11): Defeated Angela Cao of the USA 3-1 (11-13, 11-8, 11-3, 11-7) in the round of 16. Now faces another American, Loretta Pochoda-Nowell, in Friday’s quarter-final.
Lucy Lynch (GU15): Bowed out in the round of 64 with a 0-3 defeat to American Laura Techar (1-11, 2-11, 2-11). Now has a 33rd-48th place play-off against Canada’s Isha Saraf.
Daisy Morrissey (GU13): Got off to a fantastic start with a 3-0 qualification round of 16 win over Dutch player Sophie Verhulst (11-6, 11-7, 11-3), but came unstuck 0-3 (5-11, 4-11, 3-11) in the round of 16 against the high ranked Kadija Bondok of Egypt. The next step is a ninth/16th place play-off against American Asha Ponnuru.
Maia Morrissey (GU11): Defeated England’s Maebh Lovely 3-1 (4-11, 11-8, 13-11, 13-11) in qualification quarter-final but lost out 0-3 (0-11, 0-11, 2-11) to another English player, Abigail Zeng. Now has a ninth/16th place play-off with American Paige Smith.
Zoe Nyhan (GU15): Had a round of 64 walkover against South African Nhlamulo Masingi but lost 0-3 (2-11, 6-11, 6-11) to England’s Maya Goel in the round of 32. Arushi Saha, an American, now awaits in the 17th/32nd place play-off.
Riley Slade (GU19): Went down 0-3 (2-11, 0-11, 0-11) to Dutch player Renske Huntelaar in the round of 32 and now faces Iranian Armiti Ghoroghchian in the 17th/32nd place play-off.
BOYS SECTION
Josh Archer (BU13 – W3 L3): Defeated American Colin DiMarino 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-5) in the round of 64 and lost to Zachary Yu, another American, 2-3 (11-8, 4-11, 13-11, 8-11, 3-11) in the round of 32.
Ailon Chen (BU13): Began with a brisk round of 32 win over Joris Willems, winning 3-0 (11-4, 11-1, 11-2), but lost 0-3 (3-11, 4-11, 3-11) to American Carter Macdougall in the round of 16. Now take on Canadian Nolan Ryding in the ninth/16th place play-off.
Marcelino Cronin (BU13): Started with a 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-4) round of 64 win over Qatar’s Alian Hassan, but agonisingly lost 2-3 in the round of 32 to England’s Logan Willstrop (11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-14). Started Friday with a 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-3) win against France’s Gabriel Martini in the 17th/32nd place play-off. Now takes on England’s Xavier Rowe in the 17th/24th place match.
Alfie Knox (BU11): Comfortably defeated Pakistan’s Azhar Noman 3-0 (11-0, 11-1, 11-1) in the round of 32 but lost 1-3 to Gavriel Azoulay of Israel in the round of 16 (2-11, 11-9, 5-11, 2-11). Now faces Poland’s Antoni Urbanski in the ninth/16th place play-off.
Harry Knox (BU13): Won his two Thursday matches, defeating American Sebastian Bakker 3-0 (11-2, 11-5, 11-4) in the round of 64 and then France’s Louis Lavergne 3-1 (13-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5) in the round of 32. Beaten 0-3 by American Lars Daly in Friday’s round of 16 (5-11, 4-11, 4-11) and now faces another American, Anderson Morgan, in a ninth/16th place play-off.
Ben Lynch (BU15): Lost 0-3 to Denmark’s Mathias Berliner in the round of 64 (6-11, 5-11, 9-11) but has since won two placings matches, defeating Dutch opponent Milan Wiersma 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-4) and Switzerland’s Benedikt Ammann 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-4).
Liam Mahony (BU11): Began with a 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-4) qualification round of 16 win over Raff van Altena of the Netherlands but was beaten 0-3 (2-11, 4-11, 2-11) by American Lukas Daly in the round of 32. Has since beaten Israel’s Ido Lavian 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-5) and now faces Canada’s Jasper Che in a 17th-24th place play-off.
Jamie Morrissey (BU13): Enjoyed an excellent Thursday with a round of 64 win over Croatia’s Viktor Jankovic 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-5) and followed it with another 3-0 (15-13, 11-8, 11-6) win over Switzerland’s Livio Ferrarini. Beaten in Friday’s round of 16 clash with American Graeson Smith 0-3 (4-11, 7-11, 1-11) and next plays Hungary’s Alex Kosztyu in the ninth/16th place play-off.
