Oliver Butler and Chloe Dennis earned mixed doubles bronze courtesy of a string of impressive performances at the European Under-17 Championships.
A ten-strong English contingent were in action in Podčetrtek, Slovenia, with Butler and Dennis starting their campaign with straight sets victories over Netherlands’ William Wang and Veronika Dravinec and Belarusian duo Hleb Shvydkou and Aryna Nikalayeva.
Butler and Dennis held their nerve in the next three rounds, each of which saw them prevail in a decider against seeded opponents to secure their place on the podium and set up a last four clash with Denmark’s Jonathan Melgaard and Maria Hojlund Tommerup.
The English pair took the first game 21-15 but unfortunately lost the next two 21-14 to miss out on the final.
Elsewhere in the mixed doubles, Ethan Hosken and Abigal Hong went down 21-18 21-11 in their second-round clash with Poland’s Jan Franczak and Julia Piwowar.
Butler and Hosken teamed up in the men’s doubles and came through their opening two rounds in straight games.
But Franczak again proved Hosken’s nemesis, this time playing alongside Arkadiusz Dydynski, as the Polish sixth seeds took a hard-fought contest 21-19 21-19.
Robin Harper and Michael Pang also made it through the early stages after straight sets victories over Romania’s Andrei Octavian Coman and Calin Tudor Turcu and Estonia’s Rene Leeman and Chris Robin Talts.
Russian pair Daniil Dubovenko and Gleb Stepakov proved too strong in the third round, however, winning 21-16 21-9.
The women’s doubles saw Hong and Leona Lee begin with a convincing 21-11 21-8 victory over Dravinec and Mara Hafter before an epic contest with Malya Hoareau and Camille Pognante.
Hong and Lee took the opener 21-16 but the French fifth seeds hit back to take the next two 21-18 21-16 in a close encounter.
Six of the squad were in action in the singles, with Pang and Dillon Chong each reaching the third round in the men’s competition.
Pang had a bye through the first round and beat Switzerland’s Loris Dietrich 22-20 21-12 before going down 21-10 21-14 to Belgian second seed Charles Fouyn, who had accounted for Ben Hammond in the previous round.
Chong beat Leeman in three sets before needing just two to get past Norway’s Filip Boehn, though his progress was ended by Spaniard Basilio Porto (21-17 22-20).
In the women’s singles, Lee and Tashvi Parab each made it to the third round, with the latter edging past Denmark’s Sarah Skriver 23-21 21-19 following a bye before putting up a valiant fight against Polish top seed Joanna Podedworny (21-16 21-13).
Lee also had a bye in the first round and then saw off Serbia’s Iva Kosa 21-7 21-7, though Denmark’s Laerke Thomsen prevailed 21-18 21-12 in the third round.
Dennis also fell to a Danish opponent, losing her first round match to Kajsa van Dalm in three games having won the first.
