JOOLA European Youth Top 10
The upsets in the Junior Boys Event at the JOOLA European Youth Top 10 spiced the tournament from the very beginning. In the opening round two favorites Aliaksandr KHANIN of Belarus and Cristian PLETEA of Romania both suffered defeats by the hands of lower ranked players whilst top seeded Tomas POLANSKY of Czech Republic was put under severe pressure before he recorded victory. Andreas LEVENKO showed perfect shape and recorded all three victories.
Host nation ace Tomas POLANSKY who already won the title at the Top 10 and European Championships three years ago in his final year in Cadet category was stretched to six games in the match against Germany’s Tobias HIPPLER.
“In two previous occasions I beat him in straight games but it was no way near this time ” admitted POLANSKY.” I was 1:0 and 8:4 in the lead in the second game before Tobias raised his game. I do not know what happened. I guess I was little bit under pressure. It is not easy to forget that I am playing on home soil. In addition I am the top seed here and the expectations are high. I am hoping for title in Prague. All of that affected my game from the beginning.”
Last year’s winner at the Top 10 in Cadets Category Romania’s Cristian PLETEA suffered by the hands of Austria’s Andreas LEVENKO in five games whilst no. three seed Aliaksandr KHANIN lost against Carlos VEDRIEL of Spain.
Carlos also showed very good performance in the second round but it was not enough to beat Joe SEYFRIED of France. However Austria’s Andreas LEVENKO continued in good rhythm and forced Aliaksandr KHANIN to leave the playing box beaten once again. In the second round HIPPLER accounted for Rares SIPOS of Romania.
In the ultimate round of the day LEVENKO added another victory to his account to finish the day unbeaten. He beat Joe SEYFRIED of France after being 2:1 down. The duel between two Romania’s players PLETEA and SIPOS went in favor of higher ranked PLETEA.
Junior Boys Event
Round 1
Tomas POLANSKY (Czech Republic) – Tobias HIPPLER (Germany) 4:2 (11:7 9:11 11:7 7:11 11:6 11:6)
Joe SEYFRIED (France) – Irvin BERTRAND (France) 4:2 (11:6 9:11 11: 8 11:7 2:11 14:12)
Aliaksandr KHANIN (Belarus) – Carlos VEDRIEL (Spain) 1:4 (11:7 10:12 6:11 6:11 6:11)
Cristian PLETEA (Romania) – Andreas LEVENKO (Austria) 1:4 (10:12 6:11 11:8 9:11 8:11)
Rares SIPOS (Romania) – Alexandru MANOLE (Romania) 4:1 (11:8 11:9 10:12 11:7 12:10)
Round 2
Tomas POLANSKY (Czech Republic) – Irvin BERTRAND (France) 4:2 (9:11 9:11 13:11 11:6 12:10 11:9)
Joe SEYFRIED (France) – Carlos VEDRIEL (Spain) 4:2 (12:10 11:9 8:11 11:5 8;11 11:5)
Aliaksandr KHANIN (Belarus) – Andreas LEVENKO (Austria) 1:4 (11:7 7:11 12:14 6:11 8:11)
Cristian PLETEA (Romania) – Alexandru MANOLE (Romania) 4:2 (15:13 4:11 10:12 11:5 11:5 11:9)
Rares SIPOS (Romania) – Tobias HIPPLER (Germany) 2:4 (12:14 10:12 15:13 6:11 6:11 11:4 9:11)
Round 3
Tomas POLANSKY (Czech Republic) – Carlos VEDRIEL (Spain) 4:1 (11:8 7:11 11:6 11:8 11:6)
Joe SEYFRIED (France) – Andreas LEVENKO (Austria) 2:4 (12:10 9:11 11:4 9:11 8:11 7:11)
Aliaksandr KHANIN (Belarus) – Alexandru MANOLE (Romania) 4:0 (11:9 11:9 11:7 11:7)
Cristian PLETEA (Romania) – Rares SIPOS (Romania) 4:1 (11:6 11;3 11:9 10:12 12:10)
Irvin BERTRAND (France) – Tobias HIPPLER (Germany) 4:1 (9:11 11:5 11:4 11:6 11:4)
