Joseph Hee secured a brilliant silver medal at the Slovak Cadet Open, despite not being seeded.
The Ealing youngster, who was ranked 26th in the event, won all three matches to top his group and receive a bye in the first knockout round.
He was drawn against top seed Myshaal Sabhi of France in the last 32 but made light of the difference in rankings to register a 3-1 triumph.
Victories followed over opponents from Chinese Taipei and France and, in the semi-finals, a 3-1 scoreline against seventh seed Mike Hollo of Germany.
It set up a final against the fourth seed, Poland’s Maciej Kubik, but 14-year-old Hee was not able to finish in fairytale style as a 3-1 defeat meant he had to settle for silver.
Robert Pelc was also in action in Bratislava. He was eliminated in the group stage but won his first-round match in the consolation singles before being defeated by an opponent from Croatia.
Hee and Pelc were beaten in the first round of the doubles, while Pelc was part of an England-Sweden combination in the team event which was knocked out in the group stage following a 3-2 defeat to Spain and a 3-0 reverse to France A, who went on to win the competition.
Results
Cadet Boys’ Singles
Qualifying Group 8
Matei Dumitrescu (ROU) bt Robert Pelc 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-7)
Jakub Goldir (SVK) bt Pelc 3-0 (11-3, 11-5, 11-8)
Matej Stach (CZE) bt Pelc 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8)
Group 9
Joseph Hee bt Felix Ivanco (SVK) 3-1 (6-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-9)
Hee bt Szymon Kolasa (POL) 3-2 (11-9, 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7)
Hee bt Stefan Ursut (ROU) 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-3)
Round of 32
Joseph Hee bt Myshaal Sabhi (FRA) 3-1 (11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5)
Round of 16
Hee bt Chang Chia-Hao (TPE) 3-1 (9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8)
Quarter-finals
Hee bt Hugo Deschamps (FRA) 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 11-8)
Semi-finals
Hee bt Mike Hollo (GER) 3-1 (12-14, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7)
Final
Maciej Kubik (POL) bt Hee 3-1 (11-3, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8)
Consolation singles
Round of 32
Robert Pelc bt Kristian Uherik (SVK) 3-1 (11-5, 5-11, 11-3, 11-7)
Round of 16
Filip Borovnjak (CRO) bt Pelc 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-9)
Cadet Boys’ Doubles
Round of 32
Mikhail Rozhkov & Semen Shevnin (RUS) bt Joseph Hee & Robert Pelc 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8)
Cadet Boys’ Team
Spain 3 England-Sweden 2
Albert Vilardell bt Robert Pelc 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-6)
Theo Abrahamsson bt Arnau Pons 3-1 (11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 11-2)
Iker Gonzalez & Pons bt Pelc & Abrahamsson 3-2 (13-11, 11-5, 13-15, 6-11, 11-3)
Abrahamsson bt Vilardell 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 13-11)
Pons bt Pelc 3-1 (11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5)
France A 3 England-Sweden 0
Fabio Rakotoarimanana bt Pelc 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-9)
Myshaal Sabhi bt Abrahamsson 3-2 (7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7)
Rakotoarimanana & Sabhi bt Pelc & Abrahamsson 3-1 (11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 11-4)
