Johnnie Torjussen produced a stunning performance to come from behind and reach the semi-finals of the Slovak Open in Trencin.
The 20-year-old simply refused to give in against seventh seed Chi Yu Jen, fighting back from losing a close-run first game to book his place in the last four against Ireland’s Jonathan Dolan on Saturday.
Torjussen succumbed to a disappointing 21-18 first game defeat to leave him with a mountain to climb in Slovakia, but levelled in a nerve-jangling second 22-20 to tee up a tantalising decider.
And he held his nerve as both players duelled it out to keep their hopes of the trophy alive, triumphing by the same margin in the third game to extend his stay in the competition.
The world No. 381 had previously beaten Czech Republic’s Ondrej Kral earlier in the day to qualify for the quarter-finals, winning 21-14 21-12 as he became the only English hope to remain involved in the competition heading into Friday evening.
And he took that momentum with him in style, as he continued to enhance his burgeoning reputation as an up-and-coming English talent.
Freya Redfearn suffered a disappointing defeat on Friday, however, failing to match Torjussen’s heroics as she lost against Reka Madarasz.
The 19-year-old had initially taken the lead against the fifth seed, but was on the receiving end of a late turnaround as the Hungarian took the final two games 21-16 to move into the quarter-finals, where she then lost against Huang Yu-Hsun.
