In the Challenge Cup, fourth seeds Hong Kong 2 enjoyed a bye and started their tournament in earnest with a comfortable +61 win against France, to meet in the semi-final Switzerland 2, who had defeated Hungary +18. Hong Kong 2 triumphed in a very strong all-round performance +41, only dropping two sets (the women’s singles and men’s singles badminton), underlining their strength in squash. Perhaps tonight one or both of the Great Britain teams will take them the distance to put their tennis to the test…
Third seeds Great Britain 4 had a bye and then faced up against a Belgium team fronted with a man and woman usually seen in elite categories (Mohammed Tarik Koubaa and Lieselot de Bleeckere) – a quarter-final that could easily have been a final. The Brits gradually turned around a 17-point deficit after table tennis to take the win in with a sterling 11-4 win in the doubles tennis from James Trueman and Keiran Shelley. Rising star James Hempstead went toe-to-toe with Koubaa, with great battles in all sports but table tennis, the Brit’s weakest and probably Koubaa’s strongest. It ended only +2 to Koubaa, a great, vital result for the Brits given Koubaa usually plays in the men’s top tier. In the other singles, Stuart Preston was six to the good against Thibault Perin overall. De Bleeckere won +13 against Susie Dilloway but the Brits dug in for 10 crucial points in tennis, about double what she may have expected, to allow Trueman and Shelley the chance to effectively seal the win. Preston just needed a point in tennis and took it at the second time of asking, with a fine forehand crosscourt.
Strong individual wins from Bertrand Carlier and Pauline Cavé, +16 and +29 respectively, helped France 4 overcome India 2 in the other quarter-final, in a tight clash that went down to the men’s doubles tennis. France then played Great Britain 4 and led +20 after table tennis, but excellent badminton from Great Britain, wins to 4, 8, 2, and 3, saw them overhaul the deficit and lead by seven into squash. They extended this to nineteen on the squash courts. However, this France team are strong at tennis, so the match was still on a knife-edge. James and Bertrand had an intense battle which ended 13-11 in the Frenchman’s favour, James pushing the matter and Bertrand solidly playing balls into the backcourt to nullify the threat. Cavé produced excellent tennis, winners from all over the court, to win 11-1 and put the game again really in the balance. If France got seven or more the game would go right to the wire. Great volleying from James Trueman and Joel Durston, +16 overall in their rubber, sealed the spot in the final for the Brits.
Joel Durston
