10 July, 2023
Harry Huang battled his way to the semi-finals of the men’s singles at the VICTOR Future Series Nouvelle-Aquitaine as English hopes came to a close on the penultimate day of competition.
Huang had seen off a trio of French opponents to reach the last four before eventually falling 22-20 21-13 to India’s Bharat Raghav.
The 21-year-old opened his competition with victory over Simon Baron Vezilier 21-17 21-18 before coming through a back-and-forth contest against Leo Van Gysel 21-11 18-21 21-14.
A 21-14 23-21 triumph over Thomas Fourcade then booked a spot in the last four before Raghav ultimately proved too strong.
There was also a run to the semi-finals for women’s doubles duo Xiyu Liu and Yuji Shan before they were beaten 21-13 21-10 by second seeds Sharone Bauer and Emilie Vercelot.
The English pair defeated Elyjah Rouxel and Mariana Paiva 21-16 18-21 21-19 in their opener before getting past Veronika Brozkovcova and Veronika Dobiasova after the Czech pair retired with Liu and Shan leading 11-6 in the decider.
But the duo ultimately met their match in the last four, with Bauer and Vercelot easing into the final.
The women’s doubles also saw juniors Lila Dundas and Yulia Tang reach the quarter-finals, as they beat Austrian duo Anja and Lena Rumpold 21-15 17-21 22-20 before being defeated by Turkish top seeds Bengisu Ercetin and Nazlican Inci 21-13 21-7.
In the men’s doubles, Ting Yu Goh and Imran Mohamed reached the last 16 courtesy of a 21-14 21-12 victory over Ewan Goulin and Erwan Hamel before falling to Louis Ducrot and Quentin Ronget, while Ka Wai Ng also departed at the same stage with Bruneian partner Chai Chee Hou, losing 21-14 21-9 to fourth seeds Baptiste Labarthe and Tom Lalot Trescarte.
Top seeds Alex Green and Brandon Zhi Hao Yap did not travel after withdrawing due to a short-term injury to Green.
The women’s singles saw qualifier Yulia Tang lose at the last 32 stage, going out to Uliana Golubnycha 21-18 21-16.
Fellow qualifier Neil Bhabuta reached the last 16 of the men’s singles after beating Louis Ducrot 22-20 21-14 before losing to second seed Joel Konig 21-16 21-16, while Ethan Rose reached the last eight before losing to Noah Haase 21-15 13-21 23-21.
The qualifier opened with a comfortable 21-19 21-8 victory over Charles Fouyn before upsetting fifth seed Kian-Yu Oei 23-21 21-18 to book his place in the quarter-finals only to lose a tough battle with Haase.
