Max Radiven reached the Under-17 boys’ singles quarter-finals at the WTT Youth Contender Spa in Belgium, where he was beaten by France’s Titouan Morel-Gonzales in a five-game match decided by the narrowest of margins.
Radiven, the fifth seed, lost 3-2 to fourth seed Morel-Gonzales after four of the five games went to deuce. The French player prevailed 14-16, 14-12, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11, ending a run in which Radiven had dropped only two games before the quarter-finals.
Table Tennis England reported that Radiven was ranked No 122 in the junior world rankings, one place below Morel-Gonzales, making the closeness of their meeting consistent with their respective positions. The scoreline nevertheless underlined how near Radiven came to progressing beyond the last eight.
Oscar Nikolli and Sinan Surensoy also made quarter-final appearances in the Under-15 boys’ singles, giving the three players three last-eight places across the boys’ age-group events.
Radiven’s close Under-17 campaign
Radiven began his Under-17 singles event with straight-game victories over Belgium’s Bryan Zhang and Edouard Gerson. He then defeated Italy’s Nicholas Fama 3-1 in the round of 32 and beat Belgium’s Matt Closset by the same score in the last 16.
That sequence took him into a second meeting at the tournament with Morel-Gonzales, who had also defeated Pablo Ramirez Rioja in the qualifying group phase. Their quarter-final was far tighter than Radiven’s Under-19 encounter with the same opponent, which Morel-Gonzales won in three games.
Ramirez Rioja also supplied a notable Under-17 result. He beat France’s Tim Escudier, described by Table Tennis England as higher-ranked, 14-12 in the deciding fifth game in the round of 32. His run ended in the last 16, where French top seed Sandro Cavaille won in four games.
Jake Davidson did not advance from his Under-17 qualifying group, but he took Czech second seed Jan Skalda to five games. Davidson led 2-0 before Skalda recovered to win 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-3.
Davidson’s other group match also went to five games, with Germany’s Jonathan Kraft winning 3-2. The result meant Davidson exited the group despite taking both opponents to deciding matches, while Radiven went on to record the event’s deepest Under-17 boys’ singles run among the players listed by Table Tennis England.
Nikolli and Surensoy make Under-15 last eight
In the Under-15 boys’ singles, Nikolli reached the quarter-finals after winning both group matches and then defeating Belgium’s Noa Warrand in the last 16. The eighth seed was stopped by France’s second seed Quentin Sandona, who won their quarter-final in three games.
Nikolli had opened with a 3-0 win over the Netherlands’ Pepijn Potters and a 3-1 victory against Belgium’s Theo Piret. Surensoy also won both of his group matches, beating Luxembourg’s Vincent Schlotthauer and Germany’s Junde Zang in three games apiece, before adding a straight-game round-of-32 win over Belgium’s Joppe Moorkens.
Surensoy’s route included a straight-game group win over Luxembourg’s Vincent Schlotthauer, whom Table Tennis England described as higher-ranked. He then beat Belgium’s Joppe Moorkens in the round of 32 before eliminating Luxembourg seventh seed Spyros Sarigiannidis 3-1 in the last 16.
Brazil’s third seed Flavio De Sousa ended Surensoy’s run in the quarter-finals, winning 11-4, 11-7, 11-6. Surensoy had also beaten Sarigiannidis in five games in the Under-17 group stage before reaching the last 32, where France’s Noah Tessier beat him in three games.
Ramirez Rioja reached the Under-15 last 16 as well, having won his qualifying group with straight-game victories over Belgium’s Noa Warrand and France’s Sacha Douaran. He defeated Belgium’s Sina Mehrjoo in the round of 32 before France’s sixth seed Marin Jean won their five-game last-16 match.
Nikolli and Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska also won their opening Under-15 mixed doubles match against Belgian opponents in three games. Their campaign ended in the round of 16, where Sandona and France’s Lulie Duchet won in four games.
Elsewhere, Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska reached the Under-15 girls’ last 16. She won two of her three group matches, including a 3-1 victory over Luxembourg’s higher-ranked Finja Hansen, before Germany’s Emma Li won their round-of-16 match in four games.
The event produced three boys’ singles quarter-final places, alongside wins over seeded or higher-ranked opponents.