Scottish Juniors give strong performance in European Junior Team Championships ahead of Individual events beginning tomorrow.

It has been a busy few days for Scotland’s juniors out in Ibiza as the team leg of the European Championships wrapped up yesterday.

Katrina Chan, Lewis Coghill, Alfie Martin, Ishbel McCallister, Vibha Raman, Lewis Smith, Brooke Stalker, Eva Tremble, Matthew Waring and Lingyun Xiao travelled out early Monday morning after many of them played in the Scottish Open on the Thursday.

Scotland had been drawn in Group 8 taking on fifth seeds Turkey as well as Estonia and Norway.

Estonia

The group opened the team event taking on Estonia, a set of matches due to be close and intense based on the two teams standings. Lewis Coghill and Brooke Stalker were first on taking Rasmus Talts and Lumikki Lilas to three sets 19-21, 22-20, 14-21.

Matthew Waring brought Scotland back into the running taking a three set victory over Andrei Schmidt 15-21, 21-11, 21-10. Speaking to Team Manager Josh Neil “Matthew beat the tenth seed which was outstanding and we were pleased with his performance.”

Katrina Chan then stepped up for the womens singles, a tough match for the 18 yr old especially after some great individual wins at the U19 Irish and German Open. She lost 9-21, 12-21 to Marija Paskotši who had claimed silver at the Lithuanian Junior Open earlier in the year.

“She didnt get the win that she would have wanted but we were pleased with the effort she put in as always.”

Next up was Lewis Coghill and Alfie Martin a new partnership in mens doubles who lost to Rasmus Roogsoo and Rasmus Talts 13-21, 13-21. This was Martin’s European debut, playing athletes up to five years his senior.

“Alfie is obviously still an Under 15s boy and we felt he did his best against strong opposition.”

Ishbel McCallister and Brooke Stalker rounded the day off with a two set victory in the womens doubles 0ver Lumikki Liias and Romili Vakk 21-17, 21-12.

 

Turkey

The Turkish team proved a tough challenge for the Scots based on their overall quality and experience. Waring begun with a win in the men’s singles, once again not making it easy for himself in another gruelling three set game finishing 13-21, 21-19, 12-21.

Womens singles was next with Vibha Raman stepping up to the plate to take on Aleyna Korkut, winner of the Istanbul U17 Open in July. Raman lost out 21-13, 21-10 but Neil was still pleased with her performance.

“She gave a really good game, giving it her all and doing her best but the Turkish girl was very strong despite Vibha’s really good performance. She just came up short against strong opposition who had a lot of experience in European events.”

The Turkish took the next three victories to make it 4-1 overall. Lewis Coghill and Lewis Smith struggled against a physically strong mens doubles pair of Burga Aktas and Mehmet Can Toremis finishing 21-14, 21-8. Moving onto the womens doubles McCallister and Stalker also lost out to Aysu Arslan and Defne Ilgin Kocak 22-20, 21-13.

“We were two set points 20-18 up and unfortunately we just couldn’t get it across the line. Again similar in the second set it was competitive through out and then once the 11 hit we lost a string of points but the girls put in a solid performance and hopefully we’ll take a lot of that going into the individual event.”

The round ended with Martin and Chan in the mixed doubles in another difficult game against Burga Aktas and Sinem Yildiz ending 21-9, 21-12.

“Alfie and Katrina got a chance to show their stuff since they’re playing in the individual event together but the Turkish boy in particular was extremely strong. Hopefully they took a lot of lessons from that game in terms of what good looks like at that level.”

Norway

The young Scottish team finished the team event with a strong victory in their final day of the team event over Norway with Neil keen for a strong finish. Raman played first in an incredibly close game against Linnea Holmedal ending with 21-23, 21-15, 13-21. Speaking on her performance Neil said

“She had a battling performance against a strong Norwegian girl, however when she was up at the turn on the third, unfortunately the momentum shifted and she couldn’t quite find her way back but she tried her best as usual”

Waring brought the team level taking victory over Mathias Wong 21-13, 21-11 a smooth win that Neil was delighted to see.

“It was arguably one of his stronger performances in the sense that whilst he wasn’t playing a boy that was the same level as his previous two competitors, he still managed to be very professional in how he delivered that performance and intensity to get it over the line quickly.”

In the women’s doubles McCallister and Stalker begun slow winning their first set 21-17 against Linnea Holmedal and Mina Korssund.

The second set ended much quicker 21-6 with the Scottish taking just 23 minutes to claim victory “Once they got their nerves under control they put in a strong performance.”

Going into the mens doubles the players and coaches were aware of this match being a tough one based on Norway vs Estonia earlier in the week. Despite Smith and Xiao’s solid performance, Aleksander Jakovleves and Mathias Wong took the victory 21-16, 23-25, 18-21.

“If it wasn’t for the experience of the Norwegians who had played a lot more European tournaments and held their composure better in the close part of the set our boys easily could have taken the game. It was a very good performance and they probably played above their level.”

Coghill and Stalker finished with a win to take the Scottish victory with a 21-11, 21-15 over Jakob Langerland Risa and Mina Korssund in a dazzling 23 minute to bring it home.

“We were confident going into the final game and thankfully Brooke and Lewis stepped up when it mattered.”

Individual Event Preview

Tomorrow brings the start of the individual event at the European Championships with all if the doubles playing beginning their quest in the afternoon.

Alfie Martin and Katrina Chan kick things off at 2pm UK time on court three in mixed doubles.

Also playing tomorrow are Ishbel McCallister and Brooke Stalker and Vibha Raman and Eva Tremble in womens doubles, Alfie Martin and Lingyun Xiao and Lewis Coghill and Lewis Smith in Mens Doubles.

Lewis Coghill and Brooke Stalker will take their first match on Sunday in mixed doubles with the womens and mens singles also beginning on the Sunday with Katrina Chan, Vibha Raman, Lewis Smith and Matthew Waring.

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